Zooplankton prey selection among three dominant ichthyoplankton species in the northwest Gulf of St Lawrence

Structuring of zooplankton and fish larvae assemblages in a freshwater-influenced Greenlandic fjord: influence from hydrography and prey availability

“…This richness was likely fuelled by the relatively high primary production found in this area (Arendt et al, 2010;Calbet et al, 2011;Riisgaard et al, 2014). Calanoid copepods were important in the diet and are preferred by most species of fish larvae (Monteleone and Peterson, 1986;Anderson, 1994;Pepin and Penney, 1997;Heath and Lough, 2007;Pedersen and Fossheim, 2008;Demontigny et al, 2012). The productive frontal zone along Fyllas Bank (Arendt et al, 2010), where many larval species were located, also supported a high biomass of prey.…”

Understanding temperature effects on recruitment in the context of trophic mismatch

“…The nets were hauled vertically from near bottom to surface at a speed of 2–3 m.s −1 and as such, sampled the zooplankton across the entire water column. Sandeel larvae and juveniles appear to preferentially feed on naupliar and copepodite stages of the Calanus genus 49,95 and a previous study identified Calanus helgolandicus as an important resource for larval survival and recruitment 43 , thus the spring phenology of this large copepod was estimated in comparison to sandeel phenology. However, as smaller copepod species are considered more representative of the North Sea copepod community 20,96 , the timing of adult peak abundance for Paracalanus parvus , Pseudocalanus sp ., Temora longicornis and Acartia clausi was estimated and compared to the phenology of C .…”

“…Copepods of the Calanus genus have repeatedly been identified as an important prey for sandeel larvae and juveniles 46–48 and the abundance of these have been found to be significant in regression models of recruitment 42,43 . Empirical evidence shows gape-size limitation in first feeding sandeel, and suggests selectivity towards the egg and early naupliar stages of the copepod 48,49 . In the northwest North Sea (ICES sandeel area SA4), sandeel recruitment variation could be explained by the degree of mismatch between Calanus helgolandicus egg production and sandeel hatch date 43 .…”

Feeding opportunities of larval and juvenile cod (Gadus morhua) in a Greenlandic fjord: temporal and spatial linkages between cod and their preferred prey

“…Rowlands et al 2008;Robert et al 2011;Demontigny et al 2012). This partially stems from the necessity to resolve the prey Abstract Feeding of fish depends on a spatial and temporal match with prey, and since larval and juvenile feeding can be highly selective, their preferences for given prey sizes and taxa should be considered when quantifying the actual availability of potential prey.…”