Skip Navigation



JPR Advance Access published online on August 4, 2006
Journal of Plankton Research, doi:10.1093/plankt/fbl030
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
28/10/937    most recent
fbl030v1
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 Hansson, L. J.
Right arrow Articles by Kiørboe, T.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Hansson, L. J.
Right arrow Articles by Kiørboe, T.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
Received February 17, 2006
Accepted July 24, 2006

Article

Effects of large gut volume in gelatinous zooplankton: ingestion rate, bolus production, and food patch utilization by the jellyfish Sarsia tubulosa

Lars Johan Hansson 1 * and Thomas Kiørboe 1

1 Danish Institute for Fisheries Research, Kavalergården 6, Dk-2920 Charlottenlund, Denmark

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Lars Johan Hansson, E-mail: ljh{at}dfu.min.dk


  Abstract

Many gelatinous zooplankton consume a large amount of prey and have stomach volumes >> volume of individual prey. We suggest that jellyfish can use their voluminous stomach as a buffering food accumulating organ that allows the organism to feed at maximum clearance rate in a wide range of fluctuating food concentrations. The food accumulation capability was confirmed for the hydromedusa Sarsia tubulosa feeding on copepods. Starved jellyfish feeding in high prey concentrations for 1 h displayed much higher average ingestion rates compared to jellyfish feeding for 20 h or to jellyfish that were pre-adjusted to the food concentration prior to incubation. The findings have implications for design and interpretation of experiments. The possibility for jellyfish to feed at maximum clearance rate in either very high prey concentration for a short time or in low prey concentration for a long time was illustrated with calculations of prey uptake by Sarsia tubulosa feeding in prey concentrations of variable heterogeneity. The ability of jellyfish to capture prey at maximum clearance rate under different prey concentrations, and to accumulate relatively large amounts of food in their guts, suggest that they would thrive in both homogenous and patchy food distributions. This property may have contributed to the evolutionary and ecological success of the medusoid "bauplan".

Communicating Editor: KJ 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
 Biol. Bull.Home page
J. E. Higgins III, M. D. Ford, and J. H. Costello
Transitions in Morphology, Nematocyst Distribution, Fluid Motions, and Prey Capture During Development of the Scyphomedusa Cyanea capillata
Biol. Bull., February 1, 2008; 214(1): 29 - 41.
[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.