The feeding activity of copepods is crucial for the structuring and functioning of marine ecosystems. The quantification of feeding rates of different copepod life stages across a range of prey densities (functional response) is essential knowledge for the improvement of plankton dynamic models. In this study, we conducted experiments to compare the feeding functional responses of nauplii, copepodites, and adults of the marine copepod Paracartia grani (formerly Acartia grani) when grazing on the flagellate Rhodomonas salina. We found that all the copepod stages followed a sigmoid curve in their functional responses (Holling type III model), indicating a metabolic threshold constraining the foraging effort at low prey densities. The maximum clearance rates of nauplii and copepodites increased with body mass with a power scaling factor of 1, but the maximum clearance rates of adults did not follow the pattern observed for juvenile stages, likely because of the relatively small prey size used in the experiments. Copepod maximum ingestion rates, however, showed allometric scaling along ontogeny that was closer to the typical 0.75 power law and seemed to not be so dependent on prey size.

We studied the phenotypic response to temperature of the marine copepod Paracartia grani at the organismal and cellular levels. First, the acute (2 days) survival, feeding and reproductive performances at 6–35°C were determined. Survival was very high up to ca. 30°C and then dropped, whereas feeding and fecundity peaked at 23–27°C. An acclimation response developed after longer exposures (7 days), resulting in a decline of the biological rate processes. As a consequence, Q10 coefficients dropped from 2.6 to 1.6, and from 2.7 to 1.7 for ingestion and egg production, respectively. Due to the similarity in feeding and egg production thermal responses, gross-growth efficiencies did not vary with temperature. Respiration rates were less sensitive (lower Q10) and showed an opposite pattern, probably influenced by starvation during the incubations. The acclimation response observed in the organismal rate processes was accompanied by changes in body stoichiometry and in the antioxidant defense and cell-repair mechanisms. Predictions of direct effects of temperature on copepod performance should consider the reduction of Q10 coefficients due to the acclimation response. Copepod population dynamic models often use high Q10 values and may overestimate thermal effects.

Marine planktonic copepods frequently exhibit diel feeding cycles coupled with vertical migrations. However, copepod feeding rhythms can be influenced by factors others than different food availability between layers. In this study we determined the changes in the diel feeding behaviour of two marine copepod species (Centropages typicus and Paracartia grani) through multigenerational laboratory rearing, ontogeny, and upon the exposure to predator chemical cues. The wild females of both C. typicus and P. grani showed marked feeding rhythms with higher ingestion rates at night. The diel rhythms of C. typicus were maintained in the first laboratory-reared generation (F1), suggesting maternal effects, but disappeared in the following generations. The P. grani females of a long-term culture (>10 years) also showed no differences in their day-night feeding activity. Ontogenetic variations were detected in the F1 generation of C. typicus: feeding rhythms were absent in naupliar stages, but adults fed more intensely at night. In the case of the cultured P. grani, in general none of the stages showed feeding rhythms. Laboratory-reared C. typicus (8-11 generations) did not recover back the natural cyclic feeding when exposed to jellyfish and fish exudates, indicating that either predation risk does not significantly affect their diel feeding activity or predator-induced responses in marine copepods might not involve chemical signalling. Our study confirms that feeding-related functional traits of marine copepods can experience quick multigenerational changes in the laboratory; consequently, cultured copepods might not be good models for studies involving their diel feeding behaviour.

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