Zooplankton feeding ecology: contents of fecal pellets of the appendicularian Oikopleura vanhoeffeni

Deibel, Don; Turner, JT

doi:10.3354/meps027067

Cited by 32 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…The most common identifiable fecal pellets in the traps from this study were ellipsoid-shaped pellets presumed to be produced by larvaceans. Larvaceans filter small-sized plankton and detrital aggregates and repackage this material into larger fecal pellets (Deibel and Turner 1985;Gorsky and Fenaux 1998). These larvaceans, which generally contribute less to the export flux of carbon than copepods, are nonetheless significant contributors to POC flux via their dense, fast-sinking fecal pellets and abandoned mucus houses, more so than previously thought (Robison et al 2005;Berline et al 2010;Lombard and Kiørboe 2010).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Zooplankton fecal pellet flux in the abyssal northeast Pacific: A 15 year time‐series study

Wilson

Ruhl

Smith

2013

Limnology & Oceanography

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Sinking particulate material collected in sequencing sediment traps moored at 3500 m depth (600 m above bottom) from 1993 to 2008 at the abyssal time-series Sta. M in the northeast Pacific was analyzed via microscopy and digital imaging. Intact zooplankton fecal pellets were quantified and size, shape, and carbon content were measured. The most common identifiable fecal pellets were from larvaceans, which feed on small particles. Other abundant fecal pellets were likely produced by large copepods and euphausiids. The proportion of identifiable fecal pellet carbon to total particulate organic carbon (POC) flux varied and ranged from 3.3% to 47.7%. Fecal pellet flux and fecal pellet-derived carbon flux was lowest in February, and highest in May, August, and November samples. The proportion of total POC in identifiable fecal pellets was negatively correlated to overall POC flux and to indicators of climate variability. The North Pacific Gyre Oscillation and Northern Oscillation Index climate indices were negatively correlated to the dominance of fecal pellets in POC flux, with changes in fecal pellet fluxes temporally lagging climate-related changes by about 3 and 5 months, respectively. Variations in zooplankton distribution and abundance affect biogeochemical cycling to abyssal depths, further demonstrating how a changing climate may affect deep-sea ecology. The dominance of zooplankton fecal pellets can shift proportionally, providing new insight into the processes controlling marine carbon sequestration in the deep sea.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Zooplankton fecal pellet flux in the abyssal northeast Pacific: A 15 year time‐series study

Wilson

Ruhl

Smith

2013

Limnology & Oceanography

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“…Oikopleura vanhoeffeni, a n appendicularian common in Newfoundland waters, is much larger than the warm water species that have been most frequently studied and it should thus be particularly susceptible to vlsually feeding planktivores. It also has the largest incurrent filter pore size reported for any appendicularian (ca 169 X 88pm; Deibel & Turner 1985) and is capable of ingesting some of the larger phytoplankton including silicoflagellates, dinoflagellates and even some chain-forming diatoms (Deibel & Turner 1985). Previous appendicularian feeding studies have been limited to 2 warm water species, Oikopleura dioica (Paffenhofer 1976, Alldredge 1981, King 1981 and Stegasoma magnum (Alldredge 1981), and have been conducted over brief field periods encompassing little variation in environmental parameters such as temperature and seston concentration.…”

Section: Introduction Mucous Housementioning

confidence: 99%

Clearance rates of Oikopleura in cold coastal Newfoundland waters: a predictive model and its trophodynamic implications

Knoechel¹,

Steel-Flynn²

1989

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Oikopleura vanhoeffeni inhabibng cold coastal Newfoundland waters are much larger than the extensively studied warm water species, 0. dioica; nevertheless they possess fine-meshed feeding filters capable of retaining the nanoplankton that dominate the water column throughout much of the year. Total clearance rates were determined using radioactively labelled algae presented to ~ndividuals in feeding chambers in situ over a seasonal range of ambient water temperatures and food concentrations. Stepwise multiple regression analysis indicated that oikopleurid size explained 46 % of the variance in clearance rate. An additional 10 O/o of the variation was explained by the ambient b~omass concentrations of chain-forming diatoms and of picoplankton (< 2 pm In d~a m e t e r ) , consistent with a filter-clogging interpretation. Water temperature was not a sign~flcant vanable in the regression model and its coefficient was negative, indicating that clearing rates were highest at the near 0 "C temperatures characteristic of the spring bloom, a period when bacterial activity is suppressed. Water column clearing rates attributable to Oikopleura populations were comparable to those calculated for the copepod commun~ty based on published data. The large size and c o~~s p~c u o u s pigmentation of 0. vanhoeffenj should make them particularly susceptible to visually feeding planktivores and they may thus constitute a n important link in the food chain supporting a large commercial fishery.

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“…Coccolithophorids were also abundant in the gut, often in higher proportion than in seawater. Deibel and Turner [1985] studied the size of food in fecal pellets and compared it to the pore size of the inlet filters. They also compared the size and type of particles in fecal pellets with those in the environment.…”

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confidence: 99%

Picoplankton and nanoplankton aggregation by appendicularians: Fecal pellet contents ofMegalocercus huxleyiin the equatorial Pacific

Gorsky¹,

Chrétiennot‐Dinet²,

Blanchot³

et al. 1999

J. Geophys. Res.

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Abstract. The content of fecal pellets of the freshly collected warm water appendicularian Megalocercus huxleyi was studied by light and electron microscopy and by flow cytometry in the superficial 100 m of the water column at 2øN, 165øE, in September 1994, during the Flux dans l'Ouest du ?acifique Equatorial (Joint Global Ocean Flux Study-France) oceanographic cruise. Microscopic observations showed that the fecal pellet contents of M. huxleyi reflected the natural composition of the nanophytoplankton and small microphytoplankton (<50 [tm). Larger cells were excluded from entering the filtering system by the inlet filters. Coccolithophorids appeared as the main component found in the feces. Evidence for ingestion of"naked" cells by this appendicularian is given. Analysis of picoplankton in fecal pellets by flow cytometer confirmed that appendicularians efficiently collect small particles. Cyanobacteria, -1 gm in diameter, were found in large quantities and showed high fluorescence in the fecal pellets. Most of these cyanobacteria in the pellets appeared to be intact, and thus may be good indicators of the appendicularian ingestion rate. The situation was different for the prochlorophyte Prochlorococcus abundant in the seawater and for picoeucaryotes (<2 gm). These were found at very low quantities in the larvacean fecal pellets. The calculations showed that with an average concentration of 5 3//. huxleyi m -3, >7% of the small particulate matter will be daily removed from the water. Some of this matter will be assimilated, some trapped in the houses, and the rest aggregated into rapidly sinking fecal pellets. Ingestion of large quantities of coccolithophorids indicates that appendicularians are important not only in the cycle of organic carbon but also of inorganic carbon. Moreover, if appendicularians successfully aggregate and assimilate oerochlorococcus and picoeucaryotes, then their grazing activity can represent a major pathway of carbon transformation in the tropical ecosystem

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Zooplankton feeding ecology: contents of fecal pellets of the appendicularian Oikopleura vanhoeffeni

Cited by 32 publications

References 8 publications

Zooplankton fecal pellet flux in the abyssal northeast Pacific: A 15 year time‐series study

Zooplankton fecal pellet flux in the abyssal northeast Pacific: A 15 year time‐series study

Clearance rates of Oikopleura in cold coastal Newfoundland waters: a predictive model and its trophodynamic implications

Picoplankton and nanoplankton aggregation by appendicularians: Fecal pellet contents ofMegalocercus huxleyiin the equatorial Pacific

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