Diel variations in planktonic ciliate community structure in the northern South China Sea and tropical Western Pacific

Though diel variations are geographically widespread phenomena among phytoplankton and zooplankton, knowledge is limited regarding diel variations in planktonic ciliate (microzooplankton) community structure. In this study, we analyzed diel variations in community structure of planktonic ciliates in the northern South China Sea (nSCS) and tropical Western Pacific (tWP). Hydrological characteristics during day and night were slightly different over both the nSCS and tWP, while ciliate average abundance at night was clearly higher than in the day in the upper 200 m. In both the nSCS and tWP, abundance proportions of large size-fraction (> 30 μm) aloricate ciliates at night were higher than in the day. While for tintinnids, abundance proportion of large lorica oral diameter at night were lower than in the day. The relationship between environmental factors and ciliate abundance pointed out that depth and temperature were main factors influencing aloricate ciliate and tintinnid in both day and night. For some dominant tintinnid species, chlorophyll a was another important factor influencing their diel vertical distribution. Our results provide fundamental data for better understanding the mechanisms of planktonic ciliate community diel variation in the tropical Western Pacific Ocean.