Laboratory experiments on trophic relationships and remote detection between two ciliates and Cyclops vicinus vicinus

1. While studies of phytoplankton and terrestrial plant communities have increasingly emphasised the use of functional traits in ecological research, few have yet to apply this approach to zooplankton communities. 2. This study reviews laboratory and observational studies on zooplankton feeding and life history and provides a series of functional trait tables for the North American freshwater zooplankton. Qualitative and quantitative trait tables highlight areas where data were more scarce and point to which types of studies could fill in gaps in our knowledge of zooplankton niches. 3. Data were most complete for the Cladocera across most traits, while feeding information for cyclopoids was most sparse. Qualitative data that distinguished congeneric species were lacking for most groups. 4. A regional community dendrogram for common north-eastern North American zooplankton species was generated and shows that taxonomic differences between species do not capture fully functional differences based on the traits of body length, habitat, trophic group and feeding type. 5. The data collected here, combined with readily measurable species attributes, can be used to generate a multivariate measure of the functional niche of each species found in a community. Armed with this information, functional relationships that are useful for ecological studies of lake ecosystems can be more easily conducted.

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“…−1 day −1 on algae (Adrian, 1991; Santer, 1993) and 1200 μ L ind. −1 day −1 on rotifers (Rabette, Thouvenot & Lair, 1998).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functional diversity of crustacean zooplankton communities: towards a trait‐based classification

2007

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“…Considering the previous studies on the feeding behavior of Cyclops species, they are herbivorous at the naupliar and early copepodid stages, but turn into carnivores (or omnivores) before reaching the adult stage, with the ability to select food according to size, taste and motion (DeMott 1986; Hopp et al . 1997; Rabette et al . 1998).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The elimination of cyclopoid copepods in September (Figs 10,11) was probably a result of the shift in food resources. Considering the previous studies on the feeding behavior of Cyclops species, they are herbivorous at the naupliar and early copepodid stages, but turn into carnivores (or omnivores) before reaching the adult stage, with the ability to select food according to size, taste and motion (DeMott 1986;Hopp et al 1997;Rabette et al 1998). Therefore, when the summer phytoplankton community is dominated by large-sized A. flos-aquae and euglenoids (Table 1), and edible rotifers disappeared, C. vicinus might not be able to survive.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal variations in the diel vertical distribution of phytoplankton and zooplankton in a shallow pond

Yamamoto¹,

Nakahara

2006

Phycological Research

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The seasonal succession of phytoplankton diversity, and the variations in the diel vertical distribution of phytoand zooplankton were investigated in a small shallow pond (1.7 m water depth) in 2003. It was inferred that the water tended to stratify weakly in the daytime from February to June. In February and April, the green alga Golenkinia radiata Chodat dominated the phytoplankton assemblage. The cell density of G. radiata greatly decreased in April, when rotifers increased near the bottom. The vertical mixing was attenuated in June, large populations of the euglenoids (Lepocinclis salina Fritsch, Phacus acuminatus Stokes, Trachelomonas hispida (Perty) Stein et Deflandre) developed, and the cyanobacterium Aphanizomenon flos-aquae var. klebahnii Elenk. appeared at low density. Euglenoids and A. flos-aquae were mostly distributed in the bottom layer. In late September, when the water was mixed throughout the day, euglenoids and A. flos-aquae were distributed evenly throughout the water column. The zooplankton (cyclopoid copepods and rotifers) densities in September were the lowest throughout the year. The vertical mixing increased in November, and the phytoplankton community was composed of A. flos-aquae, P. acuminatus, T. hispida and the green alga Ankistrodesmus falcatus (Corda) Ralfs. In November, at the final stage of water bloom of A. flos-aquae, its population density decreased with depth. The two euglenoids exhibited similar cell distributions at 0.8 m and 1.6 m during 1-3 November. A. falcatus was distributed evenly throughout the water column; however, when the vertical mixing lessened, the cells at the surface started to sink. Copepod nauplii and rotifers appeared at high densities in November. Seasonal variation in the phytoplankton community structure in the pond seemed to be related to the vertical mixing of the water. In addition, zooplankton, especially rotifers, might play an important role in initiating a spring clear-water phase and in the bloom collapse of A. flos-aquae.

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“…Recently, it was observed that the predator cyclopoid Mesocyclops araucanus preys upon S. araucanus (Kamjunke et al ). Ciliates are important prey for cyclopoid copepods (Wiackowski et al ), which detect them with the help of mechanoreceptors (Rabette et al ). However, since Stentor has the stentorin pigment, we hypothesized that stentorin consumption has negative effects on Mesocyclops by exposing them to a higher detrimental effects of light due to an increase in oxidative stress.…”

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confidence: 99%

When eating a prey is risky: Implications for predator diel vertical migration

Modenutti

Wolinski

Souza

et al. 2017

Limnology & Oceanography

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Diel vertical migration (DVM) is a common behavior in zooplankton to avoid visual predation as well as potentially hazardous light wavelengths. In deep transparent lakes of Patagonia, the dark pigmented mixotrophic ciliate Stentor araucanus inhabits the upper layers of the epilimnion and is resistant to ultraviolet radiation (UVR). Here, we investigated if the ciliate pigment called stentorin increases oxidative stress in its predators. We studied the DVM behavior of Mesocyclops araucanus and the presence of stentorin in field‐collected copepods and evaluated in the laboratory the rate at which the copepod releases stentorin. S. araucanus has a C : P ratio ∼ 170 (atomic), which is one half of that of the bulk seston of the lake resulting in a very good food source in a system with very low food quality. Compared to an alternative prey without stentorin, when feeding on Stentor, the copepod suffered high oxidative stress (increased glutathione S‐transferase activity) and the reduced glutathion levels increased from dark to visible and ultraviolet radiation. However, we also determined that exposure to only visible light was sufficient to cause oxidative stress. In the field, we observed that M. araucanus displays a larger amplitude DVM than other crustaceans, while the ciliate Stentor remained in the upper levels of the epilimnion. The DVM protects the copepods from stentorin‐induced oxidative stress during daytime. Our findings are the first to show that a compound of a zooplankton prey item can influence the vertical behavior of predators in order to minimize the negative effect.

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Laboratory experiments on trophic relationships and remote detection between two ciliates and Cyclops vicinus vicinus

Cited by 9 publications

References 55 publications

Functional diversity of crustacean zooplankton communities: towards a trait‐based classification

Functional diversity of crustacean zooplankton communities: towards a trait‐based classification

Seasonal variations in the diel vertical distribution of phytoplankton and zooplankton in a shallow pond

When eating a prey is risky: Implications for predator diel vertical migration

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