Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

No feeding on Phaeocystis sp. as solitary cells (post-bloom period) by the copepod Temora longicornis in the coastal waters of the English Channel

  • Published:
Hydrobiologia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

A Phaeocystis sp. (Prymnesiophyceae) bloom regularly occurs in April–May in the Eastern English Channel. In the literature, views are divided about the in situ appetence of copepods for this alga. In a study carried out in the coastal waters off the bay of Somme, at the end of the bloom, from 29 of April to 1 of May 1996, HPLC pigment analysis on both gut algal pigments and algal pigments from the water column shows that Temora longicornis adults did not feed on single cells of Phaeocystis sp. Alternatively, T. longicornis ingested diatoms and the gut content was correlated with the diatom biomass in the water. More, T. longicornis fed selectively on Dinophyceae and Cryptophyceae, which were scarcely present in the food environment. An inverse relationship was found between the concentration of Phaeocystis sp. in seawater and both gut content and abundance of young stages (CI–CIII copepodites) of T. longicornis. These results suggest an unfavourable impact of Phaeocystis sp. post-bloom on both feeding activity and distribution of T. longicornis.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Anonyme, 1968. Courant de marée dans la Manche et sur les côtes françaises de l'Atlantique. Service hydrographique de la marine, nº 550. Imp. nat., Paris: 287 pp.

  • Bautista, B., R. P. Harris, P. R. G. Tranter & D. Harbour, 1992. In situ copepod feeding and grazing rates during spring bloom dominated by Phaeocystis sp. in the English Channel. J. Plankton Res. 14: 691–703.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bjørnland, T. & S. Liaaen-Jensen, 1989. Distribution patterns of carotenoids in relation to chromophyte phylogeny and systematics. In Green, J. C., B. S. C. Leadbeater & W. L. Diver, (eds). The Chromophyte Algae: Problems and Perspective, Syst. Assoc. 38: 37–60.

  • Brunet, C., 1994. Analyse des pigments photosynthétiques par HPLC: communautés phytoplanctoniques et productivité primaire en Manche Orientale. Thèse Université de Paris VI. France: 297 pp.

  • Brunet, C., J.-M. Brylinski, L. Bodineau, G. Thoumelin, D. Bentley & D. Hilde, 1996. Phytoplankton dynamics during the spring bloom in the Southern-Eastern English Channel. Est. Coast. Shelf Sci. 43: 469–483.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brylinski, J.-M. & D. Aelbrecht, 1993. Plankton transfers and coastal front in the Dover Strait. Oceanol. Acta 16: 671–676.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brylinski, J.-M., C. Brunet, D. Bentley, G. Thoumelin & D. Hilde, 1996. Hydrography and phytoplankton biomass in the Eastern English Channel in spring 1992. Est. Coast. Shelf Sci. 43: 507–519.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brylinski, J.-M., Y. Lagadeuc, V. Gentilhomme, J. P. Dupont R. Lafite, P. A. Dupeuble M. F. Huault, Y. Auger, E. Puskaric, M. Wartel & L. Cabioch, 1991. Le 'fleuve côtier': un phénomène hydrologique important en Manche orientale (exemple du Pas de Calais). Oceanol. Acta, nº sp. 11: 197–203.

    Google Scholar 

  • Claustre, H., S. A. Poulet, R. Williams, J. C. Marty, S. Coombs, F. Ben Mlih, A. M. Hapette & V. Martin-Jezequel, 1990. A biochemical investigation of a Phaeocystis sp. bloom in the Irish Sea. J. mar. biol. Ass. U.K. 70: 197–207.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cowles, T. J., R. J. Olson & S.W. Chisolm, 1988. Food selection by copepods: discrimination on the basis of food quality. Mar. Biol. 100: 41–49.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chrétiennot-Dinet, M.-J., 1990. Atlas du phytoplancton marin 3: 84–85.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chrétiennot-Dinet, M.-J., M.-M. Giraud-Guille, D. Vaulot J.-L., Putaux, Y. Saito & H. Chanzy, 1997. The chitinous nature of filaments ejected by Phaeocystis (Prymnesiophyceae). J. Phycol. 33: 666–672.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dam, H. G. & W. T. Peterson, 1988. The effect of temperature on the gut clearance rate constant of planktonic copepods. J. exp. mar. Biol. Ecol. 123: 1–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Daro, M. H., 1985. Field study of the diel, selective and efficiency feeding of the marine copepod T. longicornis in the southern bight of The North Sea. Prog. in Belg. Oceanogr. Res: 250–263.

  • De la Giraudière, 1987. Chromatographie HPLC des chlorophylles et dérivés. Application aux interfaces (continent-océan/ air-mer). Thèse Université d'Aix-Marseille. France: 304 pp.

  • Edler, L., 1979. Recommendations for marine biological studies in the Baltic Sea. Phytoplankton and chlorophyll. Baltic mar. Biologists Publ. 5: 1–38.

    Google Scholar 

  • Estep, K. W. & F. MacIntyre, 1989. Taxonomy, life cycle, distribution and dasmotrophy of Chrysochromulina: a theory accounting for scales, haptonema, muciferous bodies and toxicity. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 57: 11–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Estep, K. W., J. Ch. Nejstgaard, H. R. Skjoldal & F. Rey, 1990. Predation by copepods upon natural populations of Phaeocystis pouchetii as a function of the physiological state of the prey. Mar Ecol. Prog. Ser. 67: 235–249.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gibson, J. A. E., R. C. Garrick, H. R. Burton & A. R. McTaggart, 1990. Dimethylsulfide and the alga Phaeocystis pouchetii in Antarctic coastal waters. Mar. Biol. 104: 339–346.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gieskes, W. W. C. & G. W. Kraay, 1983. Dominance of Cryptophyceae during the phytoplankton spring bloom in the central North Sea detected by HPLC analysis of pigments. Mar. Biol. 75: 179–185.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gieskes, W. W. C. & G. W. Kraay, 1984. Phytoplankton, its pigments and primary production spring bloom at a central North Sea station in May, July and September 1981. Neth. J. Sea Res. 18: 51–70.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hansen, B., K. S. Tande & U. C. Berggreen, 1990. On the trophic fate of Phaeocystis pouchetii (Hariot). III. Functional responses in grazing demonstrated on juvenile stages of Calanus finmarchicus (Copepoda) fed diatoms and Phaeocystis. J. Plankton Res. 12: 1173–1187.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hansen, F. C. & W. H. M. van Boekel, 1991. Grazing pressure of the calanoid copepod T. longicornis on a Phaeocystis dominated spring bloom in a Dutch tidal inlet. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 78: 123–129.

    Google Scholar 

  • Head, E. J. H. & L. R. Harris, 1992. Chlorophyll and carotenoid transformation and destruction by Calanus spp. grazing on diatoms. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 86: 229–238.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hitchcock, G. L., 1982. A comparative study of the size-dependent organic composition of marine diatoms and dinoflagellates. J. Plankton Res. 4: 363–377.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huntley, M., K. Tande & H. Eilertsen, 1987. On the trophic fate of Phaeocystis pouchetii (Hariot). II. Grazing rates of Calanus hyperboreus (Kroyer) on diatoms and different size categories of Phaeocystis pouchetii. J. exp. mar. Biol. Ecol. 110: 197–212.

    Google Scholar 

  • Juhl, A. R., M. D. Ohman & R. Goericke, 1996. Astaxanthin in Calanus pacificus: Assesment of pigment-based measures of omnivory. Limnol. Oceanogr. 41: 1198–1207.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klein, B. & A. Sournia, 1987. A daily study of the diatom spring bloom at Roscoff (France) in 1985. II. Phytoplankton pigment composition studied by HPLC analysis. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 37: 265–275.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kleppel, G. S., D. V. Holliday & R. E. Pieper, 1991. Trophic interactions between copepods and microplankton: a question about the role of diatoms. Limnol. Oceanogr. 36: 172–178.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kleppel, G. S. & E. J. Lessard, 1992. Carotenoid pigments in microzooplankton. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 84: 211–218.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kleppel, G. S., L. D. Willbanks & R. E. Pieper, 1985. Diel variation in body carotenoid content and feeding activity in marine zooplankton assemblages. J. Plankton Res. 7: 569–580.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mackas, D. & R. Böhrer, 1976. Fluorescence analysis of zooplankton gut contents and an investigation of diel feeding patterns. J. exp. mar. Biol. Ecol. 25: 77–85.

    Google Scholar 

  • Putt, M. & D. K. Stoecker, 1989. An experimentally determined carbon: volume ratio for marine "oligotrichous" ciliates from estuarine and coastal waters. Limnol. Oceanogr. 34: 1097–1103.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rybarczyk, H., 1993. Processus d'eutrophication et ses conséquences sur les peuplements d'un écosystème estuarien, un exemple en Manche Orientale: la baie de Somme. Thèse de l'université de Paris VI: 342 pp.

  • Sanders, R. W., C. E. Williamson, P. L. Stutzman, R. E. Moeller, C. E. Goulden & R. Aoki-Goldsmith, 1996. Reproductive success of herbivorous zooplankton fed algal and nonalgal food resources. Limnol. Oceanogr. 41: 1295–1305.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stauber, J. L. & S. W. Jeffrey, 1988. Photosynthetic pigments in fifty-one species of marine diatoms. J. Phycol. 24: 158–172.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stoecker, D. K. & J. Capuzzo, 1990. Predation on Protozoa: its importance to zooplankton. J. Plankton Res. 12: 891–908.

    Google Scholar 

  • Strathmann, R. R., 1967. Estimating the organic carbon content of phytoplankton from cell volume or plasma volume. Limnol. Oceanogr. 12: 411–418.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tande, K. S. & U. Bämstedt, 1987. On the trophic fate of Phaeocystis pouchetii (Hariot). I. Copepod feeding rates on solitary cells and colonies of Phaeocystis pouchetii. Sarsia 72: 313–320.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ñtermohl, H., 1958. Zur Vervollkommnung der quantitativen Phytoplankton-Methodik. Mitt. int. Ver. Limnol. 9: 1–38.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vaulot, D., J.-L. Birrien, D. Marie, R. Casotti, M. J. W. Veldhuis, G. W. Kraay & M. J. Chrétiennot-Dinet, 1994. Morphology, ploidy, pigment composition and genome size of cultured strains of Phaeocystis (Prymnesiophyceae). J. Phycol. 30: 1022–1035.

    Google Scholar 

  • Verity, P. G., T. A. Villareal & T. J. Smayda, 1988. Ecological investigations of blooms of colonial Phaeocystis pouchetti II. The role of life-cycle phenomena in bloom termination. J. Plankton Res. 10: 749–766.

    Google Scholar 

  • Verity, P. G. & T. J. Smayda, 1989. Nutritional value of Phaeocystis pouchetii (Prymnesiophyceae) and other phytoplankton for Acartia spp. (Copepoda): ingestion, egg production, and growth of nauplii. Mar. Biol. 100: 161–171.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weiße, T., 1983. Feeding of calanoid copepods in relation to Phaeocystis pouchetii blooms in the GermanWadden Sea off Sylt. Mar. Biol. 74: 87–94.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weisse, T. & U. Scheffel-Möser, 1990. Growth and grazing loss rates in single-celled Phaeocystis sp. (Prymnesiophyceae). Mar. Biol. 106: 153–158.

    Google Scholar 

  • White, J. R. & M. R. Roman, 1992. Egg production by the calanoid copepod Acartia tonsa in the mesohaline Chesapeake Bay: the importance of food resources and temperature. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 86: 239–249.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wright, S. W., S. W. Jeffrey, R. F. C. Mantoura, C. A. Llewellyn, T. Bjørnland, D. Repeta & N. Welschmeyer, 1991. Improved HPLC method for the analysis of chlorophylls and carotenoids from marine phytoplankton. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 77: 183–196.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Author notes

  1. Benoît Sautour

    Present address: Université de Bordeaux 1, LOB, 2 rue du Professeur Jolyet, F-33120, Arcachon, France

Authors and Affiliations

  1. LISE, UPRES-A ELICO, Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale, B.P. 59, F-62930, Wimereux, France

    Elsa Breton, Benoît Sautour & Jean-Michel Brylinski

Authors
  1. Elsa Breton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Benoît Sautour
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jean-Michel Brylinski
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Breton, E., Sautour, B. & Brylinski, JM. No feeding on Phaeocystis sp. as solitary cells (post-bloom period) by the copepod Temora longicornis in the coastal waters of the English Channel. Hydrobiologia 414, 13–23 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1003899100526

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1003899100526

Search

Navigation