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JPR Advance Access published online on January 24, 2007
Journal of Plankton Research, doi:10.1093/plankt/fbm016
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© The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Sublethal effects of the toxic dinoflagellate Karenia brevis on marine copepod behavior

Jonathan H. Cohen1,2,*, Patricia A. Tester3 and Richard B. Forward, Jr.2

1 Division of Marine Science, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, 5600 U.S. 1 N, Ft. Pierce, FL 34946, USA 2 Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, Duke University Marine Laboratory, 135 Duke Marine Lab Road, Beaufort, NC 28516, USA 3 National Ocean Service, NOAA, 101 Pivers Island Road, Beaufort, NC 28516, USA

* Corresponding author, current address: Departments of Biology and Marine Science, Eckerd College 4200 54th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33711, USA, cohenjh{at}eckerd.edu

Received on November 27, 2006; revised on December 14, 2006; accepted on January 12, 2007


  Abstract

Apart from grazing interactions, little is known regarding the sublethal effects of Karenia brevis cells on copepod behavior. We conducted grazing and mortality experiments with K. brevis cells and brevetoxins (PbTx-2), establishing routes of toxicity for the copepods Acartia tonsa, Temora turbinata, and Centropages typicus. Subsequent behavioral experiments determined if copepod swimming and photobehavior, both behaviors involved in predator avoidance, were impaired at sublethal K. brevis and PbTx-2 levels. Copepods variably grazed toxic K. brevis and non-toxic Prorocentrum minimum at bloom concentrations. While copepods accumulated brevetoxins, significant mortality was only observed in T. turbinata at the highest test concentration (1x107 K. brevis cells L–1). Acartia tonsa exhibited minimal sublethal behavioral effects. However, there were significant effects on the swimming and photobehavior of T. turbinata and C. typicus at the lowest sublethal concentrations tested (0.15 µg PbTx-2 L–1, 1x105 K. brevis cells L–1). While physiological incapacitation may have altered copepod behavior, starvation likely played a major role as well. These data suggest sublethal effects of K. brevis and brevetoxin on copepod behavior occur, and predicting the role of zooplankton grazers in trophic transfer of algal toxins requires knowledge of species-specific sublethal effects.

Key Words: harmful algal blooms • brevetoxin • Acartia tonsa • Temora turbinata • Centropages typicus

Communicating editor: KJ Flynn


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