Deleterious consequences of a red tide dinoflagellate Cochlodinium polykrikoides for the calanoid copepod Acartia tonsa

Density‐dependent nutritional value of the dinoflagellate Cochlodinium polykrikoides to the copepod Acartia tonsa

“…On the other hand, C. polykrikoides was toxic to A. tonsa at the highest concentration of 1000 mg C L 21 (550 cells mL 21 ). Jiang et al (2009) found that survivorship of A. tonsa females was significantly reduced when fed C. polykrikoides monocultures at high concentrations ($ 900 mg C L 21 , 500 cells mL 21 ) compared to copepods starved in FSW. These results along with our current findings using mixed diets indicate the deleterious mode of this alga is related to cellular toxicity rather than nutritional insufficiency.…”

“…The equivalent spherical diameters (ESDs) of C. polykrikoides and R. lens are 28.2 and 7.97 mm (Jiang et al 2009). The optimal particle size for feeding by A. tonsa females is about 15 mm (Berggreen et al 1988).…”

“…The cultures were maintained in exponential growth phase by biweekly dilution with autoclaved f/2 medium prepared with 0.2-mm-filtered seawater (FSW, salinity 30). The carbon contents of C. polykrikoides and R. lens were 1816 and 39.5 pg cell 21 , respectively (Jiang et al 2009). …”

“…C. polykrikoides negatively affects marine algae (Tang and Gobler in press), copepods (Jiang et al 2009), shellfish, and fish ). However, the precise mode of toxicity in this species has not been completely resolved.…”

“…A. tonsa is an abundant species in many neritic and estuarine environments. The copepod is common in U.S. estuaries where C. polykrikoides blooms occur, and is capable of consuming C. polykrikoides (Jiang et al 2009). Based on egg production rate, egg hatching success, and naupliar recruitment rate of A. tonsa, mixeddiet experiments showed that the nutritional value of C. polykrikoides ranged from beneficial to deleterious with increasing cell density.…”