Phytoplankton, especially the nanoplankton fraction, and its possible relationships with the hydrographic conditions in the southern Gulf of Mexico were studied during an oceanographic cruise in April 2000. Hydrographic data and phytoplankton were analyzed. Phytoplankton species composition showed heterogeneity among stations. A total of 180 species were found: 114 diatoms, 32 dinoflagellates, 32 coccolithophores, and 2 silicoflagellates. Diversity indices were variable (0.96–5.12 bits ind–1). Phytoplankton was numerically dominated by coccolithophores or nanoplanktonic diatoms. Cell abundance was low to moderately high, ranging from 5.3 × 103 to 1.4 × 105 cells L–1. The most abundant, dominant species were nanoplanktonic forms: two coccolithophores, Emiliania huxleyi and Gephyrocapsa oceanica; the pennate diatoms Nitzschia bicapitata, N. bifurcata and N. leehyi; and centric diatoms of the genus Thalassiosira. The high subsurface abundance of coccolithophores at two stations was related to a thermal front in the Grijalva-Usumacinta river system.

Eddies and fronts created by geostrophic balance between counter-rotating currents are hydrodynamic processes that concentrate or dilute plankton and suspended material by physical processes of accumulation, retention, or dispersion. Over Campeche Canyon, in the southern Gulf of Mexico, observations revealed an anticyclonic eddy, a cyclonic current off the continental shelf, and an associated thermal front in their common boundary. Along this front there was high Trichodesmium spp. occurrence. Three water masses were found in the upper 120 m layer: Caribbean Tropical Surface Water (CTSW), Caribbean Subtropical Underwater (CSUW), and Gulf Common Water (GCW). The frontal zone between the warm core and cyclonic circulation was observed below the hot summertime mixed layer. The presence of Trichodesmium spp. was associated with the front, indicating its influence on the distribution of this diazotrophic cyanobacterium that enters the Campeche Canyon region via modified CTSW. The associated phytoplankton was dominated by tropical oceanic species of diatoms and dinoflagellates, especially species of Ceratium.

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