Dataset: Measurements of individual body size and qPCR estimates of DNA copy number per individual from the development of four assays to quantify copeod naupliar biomass in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii

Methodology:
Complete methodology is detailed in Jungbluth et al. (accepted 2022, Limnology and Oceanography Methods). Briefly, qPCR assays were developed for four copepod species: Parvocalanus crassirostris, Bestiolina similis, Oithona simplex, and Oithona attenuata. The assays were optimized and applied to mixed field samples to estimate biomass of nauplii of each species, over 5 orders of magnitude in length-based biomass and DNA copy number measured with qPCR.

Sampling and Analytical Procedures:
Zooplankton samples were either collected from the field with a Niskin bottle or 150 µm mesh plankton net with filtering cod end, or cultured in the laboratory, then preserved in 95% molecular ethyl alcohol and stored in the freezer until processing. Field samples were collected from southern Kāne‘ohe Bay on the island of Oahu, Hawai‘i. DNA was extracted from individual copepods of all focal and non-focal species from the area and used to assess whether our qPCR assays were working as expected. Dilutions of the various focal and non-focal species were tested to look at the range of focal species DNA that was detectible with the assays. Finally, the DNA copy number measurements were compared with length-based and laboratory-measured carbon biomass of each species to assess the accuracy of using qPCR to estimate copepod naupliar biomass from mixed field samples.