The biomass of all taxa decreased with increasing water depth. The degree of decrease was greater for heterotrophic bacteria < unicellular animals < plants < multicellular animals.
Multicellular animals predominate in the subarctic zone (A-C) and heterotrophic bacteria and unicellular animals predominate in the subtropical zone (D-F).
Biomass was determined in all planktonic communities (plant-multicellular animals) ranging from surface to deep water (5800 m) at four stationary points located in the subarctic to subtropical regions of the North Pacific.
All plankton taxa showed a decrease in biomass with increasing depth, but the degree of decrease varied by taxon, in the order of heterotrophic bacteria < unicellular animals < plants < multicellular animals.