The mystery of Microsetella: combination of sac- and broadcast-spawning in an Arctic fjord

• Published in: Journal of Plankton Research
• Main Authors: Koski, Marja, Swalethorp, Rasmus, Kjellerup, Sanne, Nielsen, Torkel Gissel
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press 2013
• Subjects: Short Communication; Arctic; Greenland
• Online Access: http://plankt.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/fbt117v1; https://doi.org/10.1093/plankt/fbt117

Different life-history stages of the pelagic harpacticoid Microsetella norvegica were sampled in a Greenland fjord, to investigate how this slowly growing species can achieve high abundances at low temperatures. We expected low but continuous reproduction coupled with a low mortality, but observed the opposite: a short reproductive period with high estimated weight-specific egg production and egg mortality, and indication of a life-history strategy combining the advantages of egg carrying with egg production rates independent of temperature.