▁the ▁largest ▁percentage ▁of ▁the ▁pl ank ton ic ▁community ▁during ▁such ▁re product ive ▁periods . ▁It ▁has ▁been ▁demonstrated ▁that ▁certain ▁species ▁are ▁able ▁to ▁commence ▁sp aw ning ▁as ▁they ▁come ▁into ▁contact ▁with ▁ph y top l ank ton ▁cells . ▁These ▁species ▁store ▁emb ry os ▁in ▁the ▁mant le ▁cav ity ▁until ▁they ▁detect ▁alg al ▁blo oms . ▁This ▁adaptation ▁allows ▁for ▁better ▁lar val ▁surv ival . ▁ ▁D iversity ▁and ▁abund ance ▁Mer op l ank ton ▁divers ity ▁and ▁abund ance ▁are ▁affected ▁by ▁many ▁factors . ▁Season al ▁and ▁spatial ▁variations ▁are ▁among ▁some ▁of ▁the ▁main ▁causes ▁of ▁such ▁vari ability . ▁A ▁study ▁which ▁was ▁conducted ▁in ▁D unk ell in ▁Est u ary , ▁determined ▁that ▁sp aw ning ▁times ▁of ▁many ▁species ▁are ▁tim ed ▁to ▁maxim ize ▁food ▁avail ability ▁at ▁a ▁particular ▁time ▁of ▁year , ▁while ▁minim izing ▁presence ▁of ▁other ▁species ▁which ▁explo it ▁the ▁same ▁food ▁source ▁ ▁D iversity ▁and ▁abund ance ▁are ▁depth ▁dependent ▁qual ities . ▁Gener ally , ▁shall ow ▁coast al ▁waters ▁contain ▁far ▁greater ▁numbers ▁of ▁mer op l ank ton ▁than ▁deep , ▁open ▁ocean ▁waters . ▁Most ▁abund ant ▁regions ▁occur ▁at ▁depth s ▁between ▁ 0 ▁and ▁ 2 0 0 ▁meters ▁of ▁the ▁water ▁column , ▁where ▁light ▁pen etr ation ▁is ▁highest . ▁Av ail ability ▁of ▁sun light ▁allows ▁for ▁pro l ifer ation ▁of ▁ph y top l ank ton