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JPR Advance Access originally published online on March 11, 2009
Journal of Plankton Research 2009 31(6):661-668; doi:10.1093/plankt/fbp016
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Decreased astaxanthin at high feeding rates in the calanoid copepod Acartia bifilosa

Claire Holeton1, Kristin Lindell2, Towe Holmborn3, Hedvig Hogfors3 and Elena Gorokhova3,*

1 Department of Plant Ecology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, 752 36 Uppsala, Sweden 2 Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Umeå University, 901 87 Umeå, Sweden 3 Department of Systems Ecology, Stockholm University, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden

* CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: elenag{at}ecology.su.se

Received on November 19, 2008; accepted on February 16, 2009


  Abstract

In marine food webs, copepods are the major producers of a carotenoid pigment astaxanthin, which is an important antioxidant. The availability of astaxanthin for higher trophic levels can be affected by changes in phytoplankton stocks and copepod feeding; however, the functional relationship between food availability and astaxanthin production is poorly understood. We hypothesized that with a given food type and quality, astaxanthin content in copepods is positively related to feeding and egg production rates. The hypothesis was tested by measuring astaxanthin accumulation in concert with ingestion and egg production rates in the copepod Acartia bifilosa exposed to different algal concentrations (Tetraselmis suecica; 0 to 1200 µg C L–1). Egg production and ingestion rates increased with increasing food availability and reached a plateau at ≥400–600 µg C L–1. In contrast, increasing accumulation of astaxanthin with increasing food availability was observed only at concentrations ≤150 µg C L–1. Contrary to our hypothesis, at 600–1200 µg C L–1 copepods had maximal ingestion and egg production rates, but low astaxanthin contents. It is suggested that this low accumulation of astaxanthin at high food concentrations results from a food-dependant decrease in assimilation efficiency. These findings are important for the understanding of astaxanthin dynamics within marine food webs, where increases in phytoplankton biomass may translate to a trade-off between zooplankton quantity and its nutritional quality for zooplanktivores.

Corresponding editor: Roger Harris


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