Skip Navigation


JPR Advance Access originally published online on April 13, 2007
Journal of Plankton Research 2007 29(5):447-461; doi:10.1093/plankt/fbm029
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
29/5/447    most recent
fbm029v1
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 Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (5)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Visser, A. W.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Visser, A. W.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Motility of zooplankton: fitness, foraging and predation

André W. Visser*

Danish Institute For Fisheries Research, Department Of Marine Ecology And Aquaculture, Kavalergaarden 6, Dk-2920 Charlottenlund, Denmark

* corresponding author: awv{at}dfu.min.dk

Received on November 30, 2006; accepted on March 28, 2007


  Abstract

The relative fitness of planktonic organisms foraging under the risk of predation is examined in terms of their swimming speed, path geometry and jump frequency. Fitness is quantified in terms of encounter and ingestion of prey, respiration and energy cost associated with swimming and mortality due to encounters with predators. It is shown that a convoluted swimming path in the form of meanders, zigzags or spirals confers greater fitness than swimming along a straight path. Optimal path configuration is such that the length-scale of the path-meanders is commensurate with an organism's detection radius to prey, which in turn scales with the size of the organism. Optimal swimming speed for a cruise-feeding organism decreases with increasing prey concentration and increasing risk due to ambush predators. For ambush feeding on motile prey, a benefit is gained by periodically moving to a new location. The time spent swimming is largely a function of energetic costs, whereas the time spent feeding is strongly controlled by prey concentration and the risk posed, in turn, by ambush predators. These predictions are supported by observations drawn from the literature.

Communicating editor: K.J. Flynn


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
A. W. Visser, P. Mariani, and S. Pigolotti
Swimming in turbulence: zooplankton fitness in terms of foraging efficiency and predation risk
J. Plankton Res., February 1, 2009; 31(2): 121 - 133.
[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.