Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Feeding and respiration rates of a planktonic copepod (Calanus sinicus) oversummering in Yellow Sea Cold Bottom Waters

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Marine Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The distribution, feeding and oxygen consumption of Calanus sinicus were studied in August 2001 on a transect across Yellow Sea Cold Bottom Waters (YSCBW) and two additional transects nearby. The distribution of C. sinicus adults and copepodites stage CV appeared to be well correlated with water temperature. They tended to concentrate in the YSCBW (>10,000 ind. m−2) to avoid high surface temperature. Gut pigment contents varied from 0.44 to 2.53 ng chlorophyll a equivalents (chl a equiv.) ind.−1 for adults, and from 0.24 to 2.24 ng chl a equiv. ind.−1 for CV copepodites. We found no relationship between gut pigment contents and the ambient chl a concentrations. Although the gut evacuation rate constants are consistent with those measured for other copepods, their low gut pigment contents meant an estimated daily herbivorous ingestion of <3% of body carbon in the YSCBW and <10% outside the YSCBW. However, based on estimates of clearance rates, C. sinicus feeds actively whether in the YSCBW or not, so the low ingestion rates probably reflect shortage of food. Oxygen consumption rates of C. sinicus ranged from 0.21 to 0.84 μl O2 ind.−1 h−1, with high rates often associated with high temperature. From the oxygen consumption rates, daily loss of body carbon was estimated to be 4.0–13.7%, which exceeds our estimates of their carbon ingestion rates. C. sinicus was probably not in diapause, either within or outside the YSCBW, but this cold-water layer provides C. sinicus with a refuge to live through the hot, low-food summer.

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

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Anon. (1977) Study on plankton in China Seas (in Chinese). In: Anon. (ed) Scientific reports of ‘Comprehensive Expedition in China Seas’, vol 8. Ocean Research Office, Tianjun, pp 1–159

  • Atkinson A (1996) Subantarctic copepods in an oceanic low chlorophyll environment: ciliate predation, food selectivity and impact on prey populations. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 130:85–96

    Google Scholar 

  • Bollens SM, Stearns DE (1992) Predator-induced changes in the diel feeding cycle of a planktonic copepod. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 156:179–186

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bollens SM, Frost BW, Cordell J (1994) Chemical, mechanical and visual cues in the vertical migration behavior of the planktonic copepod Acartia hudsonica. J Plankton Res 16:555–564

    Google Scholar 

  • Calbet A, Saiz E, Irigoien X, Alcaraz M, Trepat I (1999) Food availability and diel feeding rhythms in the marine copepods Acartia grani and Centropages typicus. J Plankton Res 21:1009–1015

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen Q, Zhang S (1965) The planktonic copepods of the Yellow Sea and East China Sea. I. Calanoida (in Chinese with English abstract). Stud Mar Sin 7:20–131

    Google Scholar 

  • Conover RC (1978) Transformation of organic matter. Mar Ecol 4:221–499

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Conover R, Durvasula R, Roy S, Wang R (1986) Probable loss of chlorophyll-derived pigments during the passage through the gut of zooplankton and some of the consequences. Limnol Oceanogr 31:878–886

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dagg MJ, Wyman KD (1983) Natural ingestion rates of copepods Neocalanus plumchrus and N. cristatus calculated from gut contents. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 13:37–46

    Google Scholar 

  • Dagg MJ, Cowles T, Whitledge T, Smith S, Howe S, Judkins D (1980) Grazing and excretion by zooplankton in the Peru upwelling system during April 1977. Deep-Sea Res 27:43–59

    Google Scholar 

  • Dam HG, Peterson WT (1988) The effect of temperature on the gut clearance rate constant of planktonic copepods. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 123:1–14

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dam HG, Peterson WT (1993) Seasonal contrasts in the diel vertical distribution, feeding behavior, and grazing impact of the copepod Temora longicornis in Long Island Sound. J Mar Res 51:561–594

    Google Scholar 

  • Dam HG, Miller CA, Jonasdottir SH (1993) The trophic role of mesozooplankton at 47°N, 20°W during the North Atlantic Bloom Experiment. Deep-Sea Res II 40:197–212

    Google Scholar 

  • Gifford DJ (1993) Protozoa in the diets of Neocalanus spp. in the oceanic subarctic Pacific Ocean. Prog Oceanogr 32:223–237

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gnaiger E (1983) Calculation of energetic and biochemical equivalents of respiratory oxygen consumption. In: Gnaiger E, Horstner H (eds) Polarographic oxygen sensors. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 337–345

  • Halcrow K (1963) Acclimation to temperature in the marine copepod, Calanus finmarchicus (Gunner). Limnol Oceanogr 8:1–8

    Google Scholar 

  • Head EJH, Harris LR (1992) Chlorophyll and carotenoid transformation and destruction by Calanus spp. grazing on diatoms. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 186:229–238

    Google Scholar 

  • Hirst AG, Bunker AJ (2003) Growth of marine planktonic copepods: global rates and patterns in relation to chlorophyll a, temperature, and body weight. Limnol Oceanogr 48:1988–2010

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang C, Uye S, Onbe T (1992) Ontogenetic diel vertical migration of the planktonic copepod Calanus sinicus in the Inland Sea of Japan. II. Late fall and early spring. Mar Biol 113:391–400

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang C, Uye S, Onbe T (1993) Geographical distribution, seasonal life cycle, biomass and production of a planktonic copepod Calanus sinicus in the Inland Sea of Japan and its neighboring Pacific Ocean. J Plankton Res 15:1229–1246

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang J, Chen B (1985) Species composition and distribution of planktonic copepods in the Jiulongjiang estuary (in Chinese with English abstract). Taiwan Strait 4:79–88

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang J, Zheng Z (1986) The effects of salinity on the distribution of some copepods in the Jiulongjiang estuary (in Chinese with English abstract). Acta Oceanol Sin 8:83–91

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang J, Li S, Chen Y (1991) Distribution of pelagic zooplankton in Luoyuan Bay, Fujian (in Chinese). J Oceanogr 10:46–51

    Google Scholar 

  • Hulsemann K (1994) Calanis sinicus Brodsky and C. jashnovi, nom. nov. (Copepoda: Calanoida) of the North-West Pacific Ocean: a comparison, with notes on the integumental pore pattern in Calanus s. str. Invertebr Taxon 8:1461–1482

    Google Scholar 

  • Huntley M, Brooks ER (1982) Effects of age and food availability on diel vertical migration of Calanus pacificus. Mar Biol 71:23–31

    Google Scholar 

  • Ikeda T, Kanno Y, Ozaki K, Shinada A (2001) Metabolic rates of epipelagic marine copepods as a function of body mass and temperature. Mar Biol 139:587–596

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kiørboe T, Mohlenberg F, Nicolajsen H (1982) Ingestion rate and gut clearance in the planktonic copepod Centropages hamatus (Lilljeborg) in relation to food concentration and temperature. Ophelia 21:181–194

    Google Scholar 

  • Li C, Wang R (2000) Copepod feeding activities in the Laizhou Bay, Bohai Sea, in summer (in Chinese with English abstract). Oceanol Limnol Sin 31:15–22

    Google Scholar 

  • Li C, Zuo T, Wang R (2002a) A study on grazing of planktonic copepods in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea. I. Population abundance and gut pigment contents (in Chinese with English abstract). Oceanol Limnol Sin 33[Suppl]:100–110

  • Li C, Wang R, Zhang F, Wang X (2002b) A study on grazing of planktonic copepods in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea. II. Population abundance and gut pigment contents (in Chinese with English abstract). Oceanol Limnol Sin 33[Suppl]:111–119

  • Li C, Wang R, Sun S (2003) Horizontal distribution and feeding activities of Calanus sinicus in the anchovy spawning ground in the southern Yellow Sea. J Fish China 27[Suppl]:55–63

  • Lin J, Chen R (1992) Distribution of planktonic copepods in Dongshan Bay, Fujian Province (in Chinese with English abstract). Mar Sci Bull 11:41–46

    Google Scholar 

  • Mackas D, Bohrer R (1976) Fluorescence analysis of zooplankton gut contents and an investigation of diel feeding patterns. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 25:77–85

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McLeroy-Etheridge SL, McManus GB (1999) Food type and concentration affect chlorophyll and carotenoid destruction during copepod feeding. Limnol Oceanogr 44:2005–2011

    Google Scholar 

  • Meng TX (2003) Studies on the feeding of anchovy (Engraulis japonicus) at different life stages on zooplankton in the middle and southern waters of the Yellow Sea (in Chinese with English abstract). Mar Fish Res 24:1–9

    Google Scholar 

  • Ohman MD, Runge JA (1994) Sustained fecundity when phytoplankton resources are in short supply: omnivory by Calanus finmarchicus in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Limnol Oceanogr 39:21–36

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pu X, Sun S, Wang X, Wu Y (2002) Effects of temperature and food supply on CV copepodites of Calanus sinicus in the South Yellow Sea in summer (in Chinese with English abstract). Oceanol Limnol Sin 33[Suppl]:61–70

  • Stearns DE (1986) Copepod grazing behavior in simulated natural light and its relation to nocturnal feeding. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 30:65–76

    Google Scholar 

  • Strickland JDH, Parsons TR (1968) A practical handbook of sea water analysis. Bull Fish Res Board Can 167:1–310

    Google Scholar 

  • Sun S, Wang R, Zhang G, Yang B, Ji P, Zhang F (2002) A preliminary study on the oversummering strategy of Calanus sinicus in the Yellow Sea (in Chinese with English abstract). Oceanol Limnol Sin 33[Suppl]:92–99

  • Tirelli V, Mayzaud P (1999) Gut evacuation rates of Antarctic copepods during austral spring. Polar Biol 21:197–200

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Uye S (1988) Temperature-dependent development and growth of Calanus sinicus (Copepoda: Calanoida) in the laboratory. Hydrobiologia 167/168:285–293

    Google Scholar 

  • Uye S (2000) Why does Calanus sinicus prosper in the shelf ecosystem of the Northwest Pacific Ocean? ICES J Mar Sci 57:1850–1855

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Uye S, Yamamoto F (1995) In situ feeding of the planktonic copepod Calanus sinicus in the Inland Sea of Japan, examined by the gut fluorescence method. Bull Plankton Soc Jpn 42:123–139

    Google Scholar 

  • Uye S, Huang C, Onbe T (1990) Ontogenetic diel vertical migration of the planktonic copepod Calanus sinicus in the Inland Sea of Japan. Mar Biol 104:389–396

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang R, Li C, Wang K, Zhang W (1998) Feeding activities of zooplankton in the Bohai Sea. Fish Oceanogr 7:265–271

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang R, Zuo T, Wang K (2003) The Yellow Sea Cold Bottom Water—an oversummering site for Calanus sinicus (Copepoda, Crustacea). J Plankton Res 25:169–183

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Weng X, Wang C (1982) Determination of the boundary and T–S bounds of the Huanghai Sea Cold Water Mass (in Chinese with English abstract). In: Anon. (ed) Hydrometeology. Chinese Society of Oceanology and Limnology Science, Beijing, pp 61–70

  • Williams R (1985) Vertical distribution of Calanus finmarchicus and C. helgolandicus in relation to development of the seasonal thermocline in the Celtic Sea. Mar Biol 86:145–149

    Google Scholar 

  • Yang J (1997) Primary study on Calanus sinicus feeding in the Bohai Sea (in Chinese with English abstract). Oceanol Limnol Sin 28:376–382

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yentsch CS, Menzel DW (1963) A method for the determination of phytoplankton chlorophyll and phaeophytin by fluorescence. Deep-Sea Res 10:221–231

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang G, Sun S, Zhang F, Liu G (2002) Deleterious effects of temperature on the reproduction of Calanus sinicus in the southern Yellow Sea in summer (in Chinese with English abstract). Oceanol Limnol Sin 33[Suppl]:85–91

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank the captain and crews of the R.V. “Beidou” for invaluable assistance in collecting zooplankton samples and in dong experiments on board ship. We are also grateful to Prof. R. Lu for providing the data on primary production and chlorophyll a and to Dr D. Huang for providing the CTD data. Dr A. Atkinson, one anonymous referee, and the contributing editor T. Ikeda substantially improved the final version of the manuscript. This research was supported by special funds from National Key Basic Research Program of China (G19990437) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (40106016).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Marine Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 7 Nanhai Road, 266071, China

    C. Li, S. Sun, R. Wang & X. Wang

Authors
  1. C. Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. S. Sun
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. R. Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. X. Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to C. Li.

Additional information

Communicated by T. Ikeda, Hakodate

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Li, C., Sun, S., Wang, R. et al. Feeding and respiration rates of a planktonic copepod (Calanus sinicus) oversummering in Yellow Sea Cold Bottom Waters. Marine Biology 145, 149–157 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-004-1306-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-004-1306-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation