Mass Mortality of Krill Caused by Parasitoid Ciliates

Gómez‐Gutiérrez, Jaime; Peterson, William T.; Robertis, Alex De; Brodeur, Richard D.

doi:10.1126/science.1085164

Cited by 76 publications

(62 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…Not all zooplankton bodies, however, are alive in the natural environment. It is not uncommon for zooplankton to suffer mortality from starvation, diseases, pollution, injuries, environmental stresses and harmful algal blooms (Carpenter et al 1974, Murtaugh 1981, Byron et al 1984, Burns 1985, Ianora et al 1987, Kimmerer & McKinnon 1990, Hall et al 1995, Delgado & Alcaraz, 1999, Gomez-Gutierrez et al 2003. Indeed, a handful of studies show that dead zooplankton are prevalent in both freshwater and marine environments (Wheeler 1967, Weikert 1977, Terazaki & Wada 1988, Gries & Güde 1999, Dubovskaya et al 2003, Tang et al 2006b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microbial abundance, composition and enzymatic activity during decomposition of copepod carcasses

Tang¹,

Hutalle²,

Grossart³

2006

Aquat. Microb. Ecol.

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Literature suggests that zooplankton carcasses are prevalent at times in both freshwater and marine environments, and could be important substrate sources for water column microbes (Dubovskaya et al. 2003, Hydrobiologia 504:223-227; Tang et al. 2006b, Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 68:499-508). We conducted laboratory experiments to investigate the decomposition of copepod carcasses by ambient microbes from Lake Dagow, Germany. Bacteria rapidly colonized and decomposed the carcasses, mainly from the inside. The ambient bacterial abundance increased 2-fold or more at the peak of decomposition, but decreased afterward, presumably due to protozoan grazing. Initial increase in ambient bacteria was faster at 20°C than at 6°C; however, this did not differ between aerobic and anaerobic conditions at 20°C, suggesting that pelagic bacteria in Lake Dagow were equally adapted to both aerobic and anaerobic conditions. When bacteria were suppressed by antibiotics, the carcasses were colonized and decomposed by a massive amount of fungi; much of the fungal mass remained attached to the outside of the carcasses. DGGE analyses showed that bacterial and fungal communities of the decomposing carcasses were very different from those of natural copepod samples, indicating a shift in the microbial community at the onset of decomposition. The bacterial composition remained relatively stable, whereas the fungal composition varied greatly over time and between treatments. The ambient protease activity increased with bacterial abundance, and was at most 4 to 18 times higher than in the control (lake water). Except for the antibiotics treatment, re-suspension of carcasses in the water increased the measured protease activity by as much as 4-to 7-fold, indicating that protease activity was highly localized within the decomposing carcasses. Our study shows that copepod carcasses support high bacterial growth and enzymatic activities. Colonization and decomposition of the carcasses by fungi point to a previously unknown ecological role for aquatic fungi that deserves further investigation. KEY WORDS: Detritus · Copepod carcasses · Decomposition · Microbial hotspots · Protease activity · Fungi Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisherAquat Microb Ecol 45: [219][220][221][222][223][224][225][226][227] 2006 multi-cellular organisms in the aquatic world. Not all zooplankton bodies, however, are alive in the natural environment. It is not uncommon for zooplankton to suffer mortality from starvation, diseases, pollution, injuries, environmental stresses and harmful algal blooms (Carpenter et al. 1974, Murtaugh 1981, Byron et al. 1984, Burns 1985, Ianora et al. 1987, Kimmerer & McKinnon 1990, Hall et al. 1995, Delgado & Alcaraz, 1999, Gomez-Gutierrez et al. 2003. Indeed, a handful of studies show that dead zooplankton are prevalent in both freshwater and marine environments (Wheeler 1967, Weikert 1977, Terazaki & Wada 1988, Gries & Güde 1999, Dubovskaya et al. 2003, Tang et al. 2006b). These zooplankton c...

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microbial abundance, composition and enzymatic activity during decomposition of copepod carcasses

Tang¹,

Hutalle²,

Grossart³

2006

Aquat. Microb. Ecol.

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“…Recently much attention has been paid to symbioses in marine pelagic realms, partly because many kinds of parasitoids and parasites have great negative impacts on the population dynamics of their host zooplankters (e.g. Ianora et al 1987, Kimmerer & McKinnon 1990, Gómez-Gutiérrez et al 2003, Ohtsuka et al 2004, Coats & Bachvaroff 2012. Some symbionts heavily depend on their host animals for survival.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Associations of fish juveniles with rhizostome jellyfishes in the Philippines, with taxonomic remarks on a commercially harvested species in Carigara Bay, Leyte Island

Kondo

Ohtsuka

Nishikawa

et al. 2014

Plankton Benthos Res

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A wide variety of fish and invertebrates are associated with marine jellyfishes, and their interactions are diverse. We preliminarily investigated symbionts on two species of rhizostome jellyfishes collected from Leyte and Palawan Islands, the Philippines, in August 2013. The collected jellyfishes were Lobonemoides robustus Stiasny on both islands and Acromitus maculosus Light on Palawan Island. Lobonemoides robustus is commercially harvested on both islands, and seems to have been previously misidentified as Lobonema smithi Mayer. The associated fish juveniles on these hosts were identified as Alepes djedaba (Forsskål) and Carangoides equula (Temminck & Schlegel). Alepes djedaba is closely associated with many species of scyphozoan jellyfish broadly in the southeastern Asian waters. The associations of carangids with jellyfish are also reviewed.

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“…A number of studies have shown that zooplankton carcasses are prevalent at times in the marine environment (Table 1). Carcasses with visible wounds could be results of partial predation , whereas carcasses showing signs of internal decomposition but otherwise intact may represent mortality from different causes, such as parasitism, harmful algal blooms, starvation, and environmental stress (Byron et al 1984, Hall et al 1995, Gomez-Gutierrez et al 2003, Sopanen et al 2007). Without carefully identifying zooplankton carcasses in samples, researchers may grossly overestimate the abundances of live individuals, especially in cases when a large percentage of the animals are dead in situ.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Simple staining method for differentiating live and dead marine zooplankton in field samples

Elliott

Tang

2009

Limnology & Ocean Methods

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We describe and evaluate a method for the use of neutral red staining to differentiate live and dead zooplankton in marine field samples. The protocol can be easily incorporated into shipboard zooplankton sampling. The use of neutral red in laboratory studies is common, but its application for quantifying natural live/dead zooplankton composition under field conditions has not been evaluated in detail. We tested the accuracy and precision of the method for a range of salinities and temperatures, and for common estuarine zooplankton groups. Detailed descriptions of staining intensities and patterns are provided. In addition, we evaluated potential artifact mortality due to collection and sample handling. The method produced accurate results under conditions tested, and artifact mortality was negligible using the recommended protocol. Neutral red staining is ideal for quantification of zooplankton carcasses in field samples, which will allow for more systematic study of in situ zooplankton mortality and related processes.

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Mass Mortality of Krill Caused by Parasitoid Ciliates

Cited by 76 publications

References 2 publications

Microbial abundance, composition and enzymatic activity during decomposition of copepod carcasses

Microbial abundance, composition and enzymatic activity during decomposition of copepod carcasses

Associations of fish juveniles with rhizostome jellyfishes in the Philippines, with taxonomic remarks on a commercially harvested species in Carigara Bay, Leyte Island

Simple staining method for differentiating live and dead marine zooplankton in field samples

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