Skip Navigation



JPR Advance Access published online on April 30, 2008
Journal of Plankton Research, doi:10.1093/plankt/fbn050
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
30/8/937    most recent
fbn050v1
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 Smith, J. K.
Right arrow Articles by Caron, D. A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Smith, J. K.
Right arrow Articles by Caron, D. A.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Feeding behavior and development of Acartia tonsa nauplii on the brown tide alga Aureococcus anophagefferens

Jillian K. Smitha,c,*, Darcy J. Lonsdalea, Christopher J. Goblera and David A. Caronb

a Marine Science Research Center Stony Brook University Stony Brook, NY 11794-5000 b Department of Biological Sciences University of Southern California 3616 Trousdale Pkwy., AHF 301 Los Angeles, CA 90089-0371

* Corresponding Author Tel.: 845-551-9812; E-mail address jismith{at}fordham.edu

Received on April 3, 2008; revised on April 3, 2008; accepted on April 26, 2008


  Abstract

Toxic attributes of the brown tide alga Aureococcus anophagefferens affect the ability of benthic and protistan grazers to control blooms. Yet, little is known regarding the effect of A. anophagefferens on a dominant component of the microzooplankton community, copepod nauplii. This study describes the grazer-prey relationship between nauplii of the calanoid copepod Acartia tonsa and A. anophagefferens. Four laboratory experiments using varying proportions of A. anophagefferens (2-4 µm) and a control alga, Isochrysis galbana (4-6 µm), were conducted to test the effects of A. anophagefferens isolate 1708 during exponential and stationary growth phases and A. anophagefferens isolate 1850 (exponential phase only) on naupliar grazing and development. A fifth experiment compared the effects of A. anophagefferens with an equal-sized control alga, Micromonas pusilla (1-3 µm). Isolate 1708 (exponential or stationary) as a single food item did not suppress naupliar ingestion rates (ng C nauplius–1 d–1) when compared to I. galbana. No ingestion was detected on isolate 1850 when offered alone, suggesting that this isolate may be more harmful to nauplii. Overall, nauplii selectively grazed on I. galbana over A. anophagefferens in mixed diets, but size-selection could not be ruled out as selective feeding was not apparent in mixtures with M. pusilla. Both isolates of A. anophagefferens delayed naupliar development. Our results indicate that Acartia tonsa nauplii can graze on A. anophagefferens, and can potentially help suppress brown tides. However, the efficacy of grazing control by copepods will vary with availability of alternate food sources and toxicity of the A. anophagefferens strain(s) comprising the population.

Key Words: naupliar grazing • microzooplankton • brown tide • harmful algal blooms • Aureococcus anophagefferens

c Current address: Louis Calder Center, Fordham University, 53 Whippoorwill Road, Armonk, NY 10504

Communicating Editor: Dr Roger Harris


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




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.