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Vertical patterns of early summer chlorophyll a (Chl a) concentration from the Indian Ocean are presented, as well as the variations of depth and size-fractioned Chl a in the deep chlorophyll maximum (DCM). A total of 38 stations were investigated from 12 April to 5 May 2011, with 8 discrete-depth samples (7 fixed and 1 variable at real DCM) measured at each station. Depth-integrated Chl a concentration (∑Chl a) varied from 11.5 to 26.8 mg m−2, whereas Chl a content at DCM ranged from 0.17 to 0.57 μg L−1 with picophytoplankton (<3 μm) accounting for 82% to 93%. The DCM depth varied from 55.6 to 91 m and shoaled latitudinally to northward. Moreover, our results indicated that the ∑Chl a could be underestimated by up to 9.3% with a routine sampling protocol of collecting samples only at 7 fixed depths as the real DCM was missed. The underestimation was negatively correlated to the DCM depth when it varied from 55.6 to 71.3 m (r=−0.63, P<0.05) but positively correlated when it ranged from 75.8 to 91 m (r=0.68, P<0.01). This indicates that in the Indian Ocean the greater the departure of the DCM from 75 m depth, the greater the underestimation of integrated Chl a concentration that could occur if the real DCM is missed.