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A year-round study on metabolic enzymes and body composition of the Arctic copepod Calanus glacialis: implications for the timing and intensity of diapause

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Abstract

Knowledge on the capability of zooplankton to adapt to the rapidly changing environmental conditions in the Arctic is crucial to predict future ecosystem processes. The key species on the Arctic shelf, the calanoid copepod Calanus glacialis, grows and accumulates lipid reserves in spring and summer in surface waters. The winter is spent in dormancy in deeper water layers with low metabolic activity. As timing and intensity of metabolic changes have been poorly investigated, our study aims to characterize the physiology of C. glacialis over an entire year, from July 2012 to July 2013. We followed anabolic and catabolic enzyme activities and the biochemical composition of this species, taking depth-stratified samples once a month in Billefjorden, a high-Arctic sill fjord. A large part of the population had migrated to depths >100 m by July 2012. Only thereafter, anabolic activities decreased slowly, suggesting that low metabolism is related to ceased feeding rather than to endogenous regulation. During overwintering, anabolic enzyme activities were reduced by half as compared to peak activities in spring. The biochemical composition of the copepods changed little from July to December. Then, the lipid catabolic activity increased and the lipid content decreased, likely fuelling moulting and gonad maturation. The protein content did not change significantly during winter, suggesting that proteins are not much catabolized during that time. The relatively high metabolic activity in C. glacialis in winter suggests that this species is not entering a true diapause and should thus be able to respond flexible to changing environmental conditions.

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Abbreviations

AARS:

Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase

acetyl-CoA:

Acetyl-coenzyme A

ANOVA:

Analysis of variance

CaCl2 :

Calcium chloride

CIV, CV:

Copepodite stage IV and V

CS:

Citrate synthase

CVIF:

Adult females

DM:

Dry mass

DTNB:

5,5′-Dithiobis-(2-nitrobenzoic acid)

EC:

Enzyme commission number

EDTA:

Ethylenediamineteraacetic acid

HCl:

Hydrochloric acid

HOAD:

3-Hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase

indv.:

Individual

KV:

Coast guard vessels

MDH:

Malate dehydrogenase

NADH:

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide

PPi:

Pyrophosphate reagent

RV:

Research vessel

SE:

Standard error

spp.:

Species

Tris:

Tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane

UNIS:

The University Centre in Svalbard

WP-2:

Working party 2 plankton sampling net

WP-3:

Working party 3 plankton sampling net

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Acknowledgements

We thank UNIS logistics, and the crew and the scientists of the RV Helmer Hanssen and of the small motorboat Farm for their support during the field campaigns and cruises. We are also very grateful for all the help in field by Maja K. Hatlebakk and Lauris Boissonnot. For analysing the lipid content, we thank Martina Vortkamp. Dr. Mathias Teschke contributed with valuable comments to the analyses of our results. We also thank three anonymous referees for their thorough reviews and helpful comments.

Funding

This research was part of the project CLEOPATRA II: Climate effects on food quality and trophic transfer in the Arctic marginal ice zone, funded by the Research Council of Norway (Project ID 216537). Daniela Freese was financed from the Helmholtz Graduate School for Polar and Marine Research (POLMAR, Project ID VH-GS-200). Part of the fieldwork was also financed by an Arctic Field Grant to D. Freese (Research Council of Norway; Project ID 227555).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Polar Biological Oceanography, Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Am Handelshafen 12, 27570, Bremerhaven, Germany

    Daniela Freese & Barbara Niehoff

  2. Chemical Ecology, Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Am Handelshafen 12, 27570, Bremerhaven, Germany

    Martin Graeve

  3. Arctic Biology, The University Centre in Svalbard, P.O. Box 156, 9171, Longyearbyen, Norway

    Daniela Freese & Janne E. Søreide

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  1. Daniela Freese
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  2. Janne E. Søreide
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  3. Martin Graeve
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  4. Barbara Niehoff
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Correspondence to Daniela Freese or Barbara Niehoff.

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Freese, D., Søreide, J.E., Graeve, M. et al. A year-round study on metabolic enzymes and body composition of the Arctic copepod Calanus glacialis: implications for the timing and intensity of diapause. Mar Biol 164, 3 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-016-3036-2

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