Large swarms of individuals at different spatiotemporal scales characterise the distributions of many animal species. In the ocean several mesozooplankton taxa aggregate in large patches or swarms driven by active behavioural responses to hydrographic structures, although intrinsic biotic characteristics of species´life cycles not related with the environment can also affect spatial distributions. ...

Calanoid copepods dominate mesozooplankton communities in temperate and Nordic seas. The ability of copepods to remain and feed in productive surface waters depends on their ability to overcome downward flows. In this study, we assessed the swimming performance of subarctic Calanus spp. and tested how the copepods can retain their vertical position in a representative range of downward currents ...