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Feeding and egg production of the planktonic copepod Calanus sinicus in spring and autumn in the Yellow Sea, China

Journal of Plankton Research, ISSN: 0142-7873, Vol: 30, Issue: 6, Page: 723-734
2008
  • 55
    Citations
  • 0
    Usage
  • 34
    Captures
  • 0
    Mentions
  • 0
    Social Media
Metric Options:   Counts1 Year3 Year

Metrics Details

  • Citations
    55
    • Citation Indexes
      55
  • Captures
    34

Article Description

Shipboard incubations were conducted in spring (April) and autumn (October/November) 2006 to measure the feeding and egg production rates (EPR) of Calanus sinicus in the Yellow Sea, China. The ingestion rate (2.08-11.46 and 0.26-3.70 μg C female day in spring and autumn, respectively) was positively correlated with microplankton carbon concentrations. In the northern part of the Yellow Sea, feeding on microplankton easily covers the respiratory and production requirements, whereas in the southern part in spring and in the frontal zone in autumn, C. sinicus must ingest alternative food sources. Low ingestion rates, no egg production and the dominance of the fifth copepodite (CV) stage indicated that C. sinicus was in quiescence inside the Yellow Sea Cold Bottom Water (YSCBW) area in autumn. Calanus sinicus ingested ciliates preferentially over other components of the microplankton. The EPR (0.16-12.6 eggs female day in spring and 11.4 eggs female day at only one station in autumn) increased with ciliate standing stock. Gross growth efficiency (GGE) was 13.4% (3-39%) in spring, which was correlated with the proportion of ciliates in the diet. These results indicate that ciliates have higher nutrient quality than other food items, but the low GGE indicates that the diet of C. sinicus is nutritionally incomplete. © The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.

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