CAMBIOS EN LA COMUNIDAD DE COPÉPODOS DURANTE EL ENSO 1992-93 EN EL CANAL DE SAN LORENZO, GOLFO DE CALIFORNIA.

The structure of the copepod community from the San Lorenzo Channel,Gulf of California, is described for 1990 and the 1992- 93 ENSO. Themain difference between sampling periods was the decrease of the calanoid Nannocalanus minor. This ocean species, distributed mainly in the equatorial zone, was one of the dominant in the plankton of the channel from February to August 1990. During the 1992-93 ENSO it appeared to be partially displaced by another equatorial but smaller species, Clausocalanus arcuicornis, and the tropical coastal species, Undinula vulgaris. Among the carnivores, Euchaeta marina decreased during ENSO, while the incidence of Candacia truncata and Candacia catula was observed. The mesh size of the net used noticeably affected the community structure observed, due to the escape of organisms through thenet. With the net of 300 pm mesh size, 30% more species were collected than with the net of 500 pm, and the abundances of the smaller species presented high escape percentages with the latter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]