Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Deason, E. E.
Right arrow Articles by Smayda, T. J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Deason, E. E.
Right arrow Articles by Smayda, T. J.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

JOURNAL OF PLANKTON RESEARCH | VOLUME 4 | NUMBER 2 | PAGES 219-236 | 1982
© Oxford University Press

research-article

Experimental evaluation of herbivory in the ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi relevant to ctenophore-zooplankton-phytoplankton interactions in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, USA

Ellen E. Deason and Theodore J. Smayda

Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island Kingston, RI 02881, USA

Received on September 1, 1980; accepted on November 1, 1981 Herbivory of Mnemiopsis leidyi and its interactions with phytoplankton and non-gelatinous zooplankton were examined in small-scale microcosm experiments. Clearance rates for M. leidyi incubated with phytoplankton were generally negative, but ranged up to 4.5 1 ctenophore–1 day–1 when the large (80 µm ø) diatom Ditylum brightwelli was offered as a food source. These highest ingestion rates would provide Mnemiopsis with only 21 % of its daily carbon requirements for respiration. Mean shrinkage of M. leidyi was 8.2–51% when incubated with phytoplankton. Although M. leidyi neither fed actively on phytoplankton, nor satisfied its nutritional needs on such a diet, the chain-forming diatom Skeletonema costatum became entangled in mucus strands and balls produced by M. leidyi in the absence of zooplankton. Attachment onto mucus occurred at phytoplankton concentrations commonly observed in Narragansett Bay and may be important in the formation of "marine snow" during summer M. leidyi pulses; phytoplankton sinking rate and the "package size" available to herbivores would also be affected. The experiments support our previous hypothesis based on field observations in Narragansett Bay that M. leidyi indirectly regulates phytoplankton abundance there during the summer bloom as a consequence of predation on zooplankton. The extent to which M. leidyi influenced phytoplankton dynamics in the microcosms was dependent on the relative abundance and physiological state of the three trophic levels. A food web diagram for M. leidyi is presented.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 J PLANKTON RESHome page
D. Marshalonis and J. L. Pinckney
Respiration rates of dominant hydromedusae in the North Inlet tidal estuary during winter and summer
J. Plankton Res., December 1, 2007; 29(12): 1031 - 1040.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J PLANKTON RESHome page
J. H. Costello, B. K. Sullivan, and D. J. Gifford
A physical-biological interaction underlying variable phenological responses to climate change by coastal zooplankton
J. Plankton Res., November 1, 2006; 28(11): 1099 - 1105.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J PLANKTON RESHome page
R. J. Waggett and L. J. Sullivan
Feeding efficiency of the larval ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi A. Agassiz (Ctenophora, Lobata)
J. Plankton Res., July 1, 2006; 28(7): 719 - 723.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.