JPR Advance Access originally published online on December 22, 2004
Journal of Plankton Research 2005 27(2):167-174; doi:10.1093/plankt/fbh168
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Journal of Plankton Research Vol. 27 No. 2 © Oxford University Press 2004; all rights reserved
Do viruses affect fecundity and survival of the copepod Acartia tonsa Dana?
Department of Ocean, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Old Dominion University, 4600 Elkhorn Avenue, Norfolk, VA 23529, USA
* Corresponding Author: ldrake{at}odu.edu
Received May 13, 2004; accepted in principle October 27, 2004; accepted for publication December 6, 2004; published online December 22, 2004
Naturally occurring viruses are extremely abundant in aquatic systems, and they infect bacteria, cyanobacteria, prokaryotic and eukaryotic phytoplankton, heterotrophic nanoflagellates, fish and mammals. Viral infections of single-celled organisms have been studied intensively in the past decade, but little is known about the effects of viruses on aquatic metazoans, other than for some economically important species. Because zooplankton assemblages are often dominated in number and biomass by copepods, we used them as model organisms to study the effects of naturally occurring viruses on higher trophic levels. We attempted to induce viral infection in laboratory-reared cultures of the estuarine copepod Acartia tonsa Dana by exposing them to elevated concentrations of natural viruses in seawater. We found no negative effects of such exposure on copepod fecundity, larval survival or adult survival.