Feeding of Clausocalanids (Calanoida, Copepoda) on naturally occurring particles in the northern Gulf of Aqaba (Red Sea)

A total of 12 feeding experiments were conducted in the northern Gulf of Aqaba during spring (March/April) and autumn (September/October) 2002 at the Marine Science Station (MSS) in Aqaba. Females of three species of clausocalanids were selected: Clausocalanus farrani, C. furcatus and Ctenocalanus v...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine biology 2007-05, Vol.151 (4), p.1261-1274
Main Authors: CORNILS, A, SCHNACK-SCHIEL, S. B, BÖER, M, GRAEVE, M, STRUCK, U, AL-NAJJAR, T, RICHTER, C
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Biological and medical sciences
Calanoida
Carbon
Clausocalanus farrani
Clausocalanus furcatus
Crustacea
Ctenocalanus vanus
Food supply
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Ingestion
Invertebrates
Marine
Marine biology
Mollusks
Sea water ecosystems
Seasons
Synecology
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Summary:A total of 12 feeding experiments were conducted in the northern Gulf of Aqaba during spring (March/April) and autumn (September/October) 2002 at the Marine Science Station (MSS) in Aqaba. Females of three species of clausocalanids were selected: Clausocalanus farrani, C. furcatus and Ctenocalanus vanus. Natural occurring particle (NOP) larger than 5 microm were investigated as food source. The ambient chlorophyll a concentration at sampling depth (approximately 70 m) ranged between 0.15 and 1.00 microg chl a l-1 and NOP concentrations ranged between 1.78 and 14.0 x 103 cells l-1 during the sampling periods. The division of particles into five size classes (5-10, 10-20, 20-50, 50-100 and >100 microm) revealed that most of the particles were found in the size classes below 50 microm (81-98%), while most of the natural occurring carbon (NOC) was concentrated in the size classes larger than 20 microm (70-95%). Ingestion rates were food density dependent rather than size dependent ranging between 0.02 and 1.65 × 103 NOP ind-1 day-1 and 0.01 and 0.41 microg NOC ind-1 day-1, respectively, equivalent to a body carbon (BC) uptake between 0.4 and 51.8% BC day-1. The share of the size classes to the total ingestion resembled in most cases the size class composition of the natural particle community. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]
ISSN:0025-3162
1432-1793
DOI:10.1007/s00227-006-0569-9