Influence of algal diet on growth and ingestion of Calanus helgolandicus nauplii

Abstract

Nauplii of Calanus helgolandicus were raised from eggs, laid within a 12 h period, to Copepodite Stage I (CI) on 5 different species of algae at high concentrations at 15°C. The diets used were Isochrysis galbana (5 µm spherical diameter), Rhodomonas baltica (7 µm), the coccolithophorid Pleurochrysis carterae (12 µm), the diatom Thalassiosira weissflogii (14 µm) and the dinoflagellate Prorocentrum micans (30 µm). Each day a sample was taken and preserved for later cohort analysis. Growth was estimated from CHN samples collected almost daily, from which naupliar stages were also distinguished. Ingestion was measured for each naupliar feeding stage. The fastest development was obtained with I. galbana and P. micans. We found the highest value of carbon and nitrogen content of Naupliar Stages NV to CI for individuals reared on the smallest algae, I. galbana and R. baltica. However, ingestion rate in terms of carbon or nitrogen was lowest with these same (smallest) algae. Therefore, the gross growth efficiency was highest for the smallest algae. These results suggest the following: Firstly, that factors influencing development time and weight in stage are different; weight in stage is negatively related to algal size, whereas development time is independent of it. The quality of the algal biochemical components could be the factor influencing development. Secondly, that small algae are fully assimilated in the gut whereas larger cells, i.e. those with indigestible components around the cell (theca, frustule, calcium layer) are only partly assimilated.KEY WORDS: Calanus helgolandicus · Nauplii · Growth · Development · Ingestion · Efficiency · Food quality Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisherMar Ecol Prog Ser 216: [151][152][153][154][155][156][157][158][159][160][161][162][163][164][165] 2001 Some studies have found consumption of diatoms by females to result in low hatching success (Ianora & Poulet 1993, Poulet et al. 1994, Chaudron et al. 1996, Ban et al. 1997), but this is still open to discussion (Jónasdóttir & Kiørboe 1996, Jónas-dóttir et al. 1998, Irigoien et al. 2000b.Development, body size and weight of nauplii and copepodites have been negatively related to temperature (Thompson 1982, Peterson 1986, Hopcroft & Roff 1998. Ontogenetic differences in the physiological response to temperature in copepods have also been noted (Pedersen & Tande 1992). The effect of food quantity on growth processes has often been unclear (Hart 1990, Hopcroft & Roff 1998, but some studies have clearly established an effect of food limitation on wild nauplii (Lopez 1991, Melle 1998, and this has been further substantiated by laboratory studies (Green et al. 1991, Lopez 1996.Food quality is another factor which has to be considered when examining variability in naupliar growth (Mullin & Brooks 1970, Paffenhöfer 1971, 1976, Fernández 1979a,b, Diel & Klein Breteler 1986, Verity & Smayda 1989. The major algal characteristics of importance are biochemical content, morphology, and di...

Egg production rates of Calanus helgolandicus females reared in the laboratory: variability due to present and past feeding conditions

“…The chemical weight of a Calanus helgolandicus egg was considered to be 0.362 µg C and 0.071 µg N (Rey et al 2001). These values were very close to those found by Pond et al (1996, their Table 1).…”

“…Even if Prorocentrum micans has been recognized as a nutrient of high quality (Hitchcock 1982, Rey et al 2001, the mono-specific diet during all the development may have induced a nutritive deficiency. However, it is important to underline that the egg production values measured at the high concentration coincide perfectly with the maximal ones reported in laboratory and field studies on the same species (Gill & Harris 1987, Bautista et al 1994, Pond et al 1996, Laabir et al 1998, Biegala et al 1999, Irigoien et al 2000a.…”

The effect of changes in temperature and food on the development of Calanus finmarchicus and Calanus helgolandicus populations

“…The model calculation of development time from egg to CI and from egg to adult were validated against data Table 1. derived from experiments with C. helgolandicus (Rey et al 2001;Rey-Rassat et al 2002;Cook et al 2007;Bonnet et al 2009) and C. finmarchicus (Diel and Klein Breteler 1986;Campbell et al 2001;Cook et al 2007). Bonnet et al (2009) did experiments with C. helgolandicus at 9uC, 12uC, and 15uC.…”

“…Maximum ingestion rates for the females were obtained from a compilation of maximum ingestion rates for calanoid copepods as a function of carbon weights (Saiz and Calbet 2007), assuming a C : N ratio of 5.7 the average for the studies used for the biomass estimates (Campbell et al 2001;Rey et al 2001;Rey-Rassat et al 2002) and similar N-specific ingestion rates to C-specific ingestion rates. The ingestion for the smaller stages was obtained assuming an allometric scaling of 0.25 (Fenchel 1974).…”

Effect of food concentration and type of diet on Acartia survival and naupliar development

“…While adult copepod feeding is a widespread research topic, including studies on Acartia (e.g., Houde and Roman 1987;Durbin et al 1990;Støttrup and Jensen 1990;Kleppel and Burkart 1995;Chinnery and Williams 2004), little attention has so far been given to feeding and food requirements of nauplii (see Knuckey et al 2005;Rey et al 2001;Swadling and Marcus 1994).…”