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Ecology and behavior of Bolinopsis infundibulum (Ctenophora; Lobata) in the Northeast Atlantic

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Abstract

Results from field surveys with net sampling and video profiling, combined with laboratory experiments on feeding and growth, revealed the ecological function of Bolinopsis infundibulum in northern temperate coastal waters. B. infundibulum reaching a peak abundance of around 250 ctenophores m−2, in mid-May, followed by a dramatic reduction over the next few weeks, presumably explained by predation from the ctenophore Beroe cucumis. The field data on maximum individual body height in the population indicated an instantaneous growth rate of 0.129 d−1. Newly hatched cydippid larvae showed an average instantaneous growth rate of 0.240 d−1 over 4 weeks, whereas ctenophores in the size range of 4.4–9.8 mm height gave instantaneous growth rates between 0.10 and 0.20 d−1. B. infundibulum disappeared from surface water in mid-June, but big individuals were found in deeper water, where they preyed on copepods. The results indicate that the new generation of the year was recruited from February onwards. Laboratory predation and digestion experiments showed a continuous increase in predation rate with increased prey abundance, throughout the tested range of 5–400 copepods l−1, and a digestion time increasing from 39 min with a single copepod ingested to 73 min with 8 copepods ingested.

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Acknowledgments

The project was supported by the Norwegian Research Council, Projects No. 108084/122 and 146994/S40. Part of the project was also integrated in the EU-funded project EUROGEL (contract no EVK3-CT- 32002-00074). We thank the University of Bergen for working facilities at the Marine Biological Station and onboard R/V Hakon Mosby, and Umeå Marine Sciences Centre for working facilities during preparation of the results.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Umeå Marine Sciences Centre, University of Umeå, Norrbyn, 905 71, Hörnefors, Sweden

    Ulf Båmstedt

  2. Institute of Marine Research, Bergen, Norway

    Monica B. Martinussen

Authors
  1. Ulf Båmstedt
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  2. Monica B. Martinussen
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Correspondence to Ulf Båmstedt.

Additional information

Field and laboratory work was carried out at the University of Bergen.

Guest editors: Yehuda Benayahu, Oren Levy & Tamar Lotan / Coelenterate Biology: Advanced Studies on Cnidaria and Ctenophora

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Båmstedt, U., Martinussen, M.B. Ecology and behavior of Bolinopsis infundibulum (Ctenophora; Lobata) in the Northeast Atlantic. Hydrobiologia 759, 3–14 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-015-2180-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-015-2180-x

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