Quantity and quality of the particulate organic matter in Concepcion Bay, during the spawning season of the scallop Argopecten circularis (Sowerby, 1835)

Describes the spatial variability of the particulate organic matter (POM), expressed in terms of proteins, carbohydrates and chlorophylls, and the specific abundance of phytoplankton. High values of chlorophyll a were due to the nannophytoplankton size class, which is the major contributor to the total phytoplankton abundance. The phytoplanktonic-POM and non-phytoplanktonic-POM contribution estimated at the surface shows that the highest protein percentage (69.5%) was due to phytoplankton, whereas at 10 m depth it corresponded to non-phytoplankton-POM or detritus. -from Authors