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Production of dissolved organic carbon by Oithona nana (Copepoda: Cyclopoida) grazing on two species of dinoflagellates

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Abstract

Production of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) by sloppy feeding copepods may represent an important source of DOC in marine food webs. By using the 14C-labeling technique, we quantify for the first time the production of DOC by the small cyclopoid copepod Oithona nana on two species of dinoflagellates, Oxyrrhis marina and Karlodinium sp. We found significant production of DOC when O. nana grazed on O. marina, corresponding to 6–15 % of the carbon ingested. When grazing the smaller Karlodinium sp., no DOC was produced. In additional experiments, we compared O. nana feeding rates on the dinoflagellate species Prorocentrum micans, Akashiwo sanguinea, Karlodinium sp. and O. marina. Clearance rates varied with prey size, with highest and lowest clearance rates on O. marina and Karlodinium sp., respectively. Our study indicates that even though O. nana feed efficiently on dinoflagellates, some of the carbon cleared can be lost as DOC. However, the DOC production by O. nana was lower than rates reported for calanoid copepods. We hypothesize that this is a result of the ambush feeding behavior of O. nana, which is considered a more specialized feeding mode than, for instance, suspension feeding. Due to high abundances and global distribution, we suggest that Oithona can represent an important source of DOC in marine ecosystems. This would particularly be the case during autumn and winter, where they may contribute to maintaining the microbial loop activities during periods of low primary production.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the reviewers for constructive comments, David Checkley for technical support, Michael Latz for providing some of the culture species, Lindsey Ekern for assistance with the liquid scintillation counter and Phil Zerofski for help collecting zooplankton.

Funding

This work was funded by a Fulbright Arctic Chair Award to CS, and the CarbonBridge project (Bridging marine productivity regimes: How Atlantic advective inflow affects productivity, carbon cycling and export in a melting Arctic Ocean), Project Number 226415, funded by Polar Program under the Research Council of Norway.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Biosciences, Fisheries and Economics, UiT the Arctic University of Norway, 9037, Tromsö, Norway

    Camilla Svensen

  2. Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92093-0218, USA

    Maria Vernet

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  1. Camilla Svensen
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  2. Maria Vernet
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Correspondence to Camilla Svensen.

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The authors declare they have no conflict of interest.

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All international, national and institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals (copepods only) were followed. This article does not contain any studies with human participants performed by any of the authors.

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Responsible Editor: N. Aberle.

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Svensen, C., Vernet, M. Production of dissolved organic carbon by Oithona nana (Copepoda: Cyclopoida) grazing on two species of dinoflagellates. Mar Biol 163, 237 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-016-3005-9

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