The effect of Pseudo-nitzschia seriata on grazing and fecundity of Calanus finmarchicus and Calanus glacialis

• Published in: Journal of Plankton Research
• Main Authors: Miesner, Anna Katharina, Lundholm, Nina, Krock, Bernd, Nielsen, Torkel Gissel
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: Calanus finmarchicus; Calanus glacialis; Copepods
• Online Access: https://orbit.dtu.dk/en/publications/435ec013-5fa8-4738-9a0c-0244887fc939; https://doi.org/10.1093/plankt/fbw015; https://backend.orbit.dtu.dk/ws/files/122011858/Publishers_verions.pdf

This study investigates whether feeding on the domoic acid (DA)-producing diatom Pseudo-nitzschia seriata affects the faecal pellet (FP) production (proxy for grazing) and fecundity of Calanus finmarchicus and Calanus glacialis. Female copepods were fed a saturating concentration of food (400 mg C L21) in two combinations (i) natural phytoplankton spiked with 50% P. seriata and (ii) only the non-toxic phytoplankton community. The copepods ingested DA, as illustrated by DA accumulation in their FPs, and transferred a share of DA to their eggs and body tissue. DA was mainly excreted through FPs in both species. Compared with C. finmarchicus, C. glacialis accumulated substantially more DA in its body tissue. For both species, egg production and hatching success were unaffected by grazing on the toxic diatom. This suggests that feeding on DA-containing P. seriata does not affect copepod fecundity, despite increasing DA concentrations of P. seriata during the experiment