Abstract
Measurements of respiration and excretion for the ctenophore Mnemiopsis mccradyi Mayer at 21°C at 4 concentrations of food (copepods: primarily Acartia tonsa) showed a marked effect of food availability on the metabolic rate. Starved ctenophores respired at a rate of 6.0 μg-at O2 h-1 g-1 dry wt, and excreted at 0.42 μg-at N−NH4 h-1 g-1 dry wt. Ctenophores fed at 500 prey l-1 respired at a rate of 26.4 μg-at O2 h-1 g-1 dry wt and excreted at a rate of 1.8 μg-at N−NH4 h-1 g-1 dry wt. Freshly collected ctenophores from Biscayne Bay, Florida, during November 1979, had intermediate metabolic rates. The atomic O:N ratio (based on ammonium alone) averaged 12:1 and was fairly constant for all conditions. The release of organic nitrogen was approximately equal to ammonium excretion, and urea was about 10% of the total. The elemental composition of carbon and nitrogen as a percentage of the dry weight varied directly with food availability. Total nitrogen turnover ranged from 8% per day for starved ctenophores, to 19% per day for the highest food concentration. Carbon turnover rates were higher. M. mccradyi exhibited a clear shift upwards in their excretion rate in response to the time they had been feeding, reaching a maximum after about 2h. When ctenophores were removed from food, the metabolic rate declined exponentially with time, the most rapid change occurring in the first few hours of starvation. Comparisons of carefully measured metabolic rates for freshly collected ctenophores with experimental results such as these may help to establish the nutritional state and extent of food limitation in situ.
Similar content being viewed by others
Literature Cited
Armstrong, F. A., P. M. Williams and J. D. Strickland: Photo-oxidation of organic matter in sea water by ultraviolet radiation; analytical and other applications. Nature, Lond. 211, 481–483 (1966)
Baker, L. D.: The ecology of the ctenophore Mnemiopsis mccradyi Mayer in Biscayne Bay, Florida, 131 pp. M.S. thesis, University of Miami 1973
Beamish, F. W. H.: Apparent specific dynamic action of largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides. J. Fish. Res. Bd Can. 31, 1763–1769 (1974)
Beers, J. R.: Ammonia and inorganic phosphorus excretion by the planktonic chaetognath, Sagitta hispida Conant. J. Cons. perm. inst. Explor. Mer 29, 123–129 (1964)
Biggs, D. C.: Nutritional ecology of Agalma okeni, (Siphonophora: Physonectae). In: Coelenterate ecology and behavior, pp 201–210. Ed. by G. O. Mackie. New York: Plenum Press 1976
Biggs, D. C.: Respiration and ammonium excretion by open ocean gelatinous zooplankton. Limnol. Oceanogr. 22, 108–118 (1977)
Butler, E. I., E. D. S. Corner and S. M. Marshall: On the nutrition and metabolism of zooplankton. VI. Feeding efficiency of Calanus in terms of nitrogen and phosphorus. J. mar. biol. Ass. U.K. 49, 977–1001 (1969)
Butler, E. I., E. D. S. Corner and S. M. Marshall: On the nutrition and metabolism of zooplankton. VII. Seasonal survey of nitrogen and phosphorus excretion by Calanus in the Clyde Sea area J. mar. biol. Ass. U.K. 50, 525–560 (1970)
Comita, G. W.: Oxygen consumption in Diaptomus. Limnol. Oceanogr. 13, 51–57 (1968)
Conover, R. J.: Oceanography of Long Island Sound 1952–1954. VI. Biology of Acartia clausi and A. tonsa. Bull. Bingham oceanogr. Coll. 15, 156–233 (1956)
Conover, R. J. and E. D. S. Corner: Respiration and nitrogen excretion by some marine zooplankton in relation to their life cycles. J. mar. biol. Ass. U.K. 48, 49–75 (1968)
Conover, R. J. and C. M. Lalli: Feeding and growth in Clione limacina (Phipps), a pteropod mollusc. II. Assimilation, metabolism, and growth efficiency. J. exp mar. Biol. Ecol. 16, 131–154 (1974)
Corner, E. D. S., C. B. Cowey and S. M. Marshall: On the nutrition and metabolism of zooplankton. III. Nitrogen excretion by Calanus. J. mar. biol. Ass. U.K. 45, 429–442 (1965)
Corner, E. D. S. and B. S. Newell: On the nutrition and metabolism of zooplankton. IV. The forms of nitrogen excreted by Calanus. J. mar. biol. Ass. U.K. 47, 113–120 (1967)
Cowey, C. B. and E. D. S. Corner: Amino-acids and some other nitrogenous compounds in Calanus finmarchicus. J. mar. biol. Ass. U.K. 43, 485–493 (1963)
Dagg, M., T. Cowles, T. Whitledge, S. Smith, S. Howe and D. Judkins: Grazing and excretion by zooplankton in the Peru upwelling system during April 1977. Deep-Sea Res. 27A, 43–59 (1980)
Gyllenberg, F. and W. Greve: Studies on oxygen uptake in ctenophores. Annls zool. fenn. 16, 44–49 (1979)
Harris, E.: The nitrogen cycle in Long Island Sound. Bull. Bingham Oceanogr. Coll. 17, 31–65 (1959)
Hirota, J.: Laboratory culture and metabolism of the planktonic ctenophore Pleurobrachia bachei A. Agassiz. In: Biological oceanography of the Northern North Pacific Ocean, pp 465–484. Ed. by A. Y. Takenouti. Tokyo: Idemitsu Shoten 1972
Ikeda, T.: Relationship between respiration rate and body size in marine plankton animals as a function of the temperature of habitat. Bull. Fac. Fish. Hokkaido Univ. 21, 91–112 (1970)
Ikeda, T.: Nutritional ecology of marine zooplankton. Mem. Fac. Fish. Hokkaido Univ. 22, 1–97 (1974)
Ikeda, T.: The effect of laboratory conditions on the extrapolation of experimental measurements to the ecology of marine zooplankton. Bull. Plankton Soc. Japan 23, 51–60 (1976)
Ikeda, T.: The effect of laboratory conditions on the extrapolation of experimental measurements to the ecology of marine zooplankton. IV. Changes in respiration and excretion rates of boreal zooplankton species maintained under fed and starved conditions. Mar. Biol. 41, 241–252 (1977)
Jawed, M.: Ammonia excretion by zooplankton and its significance to primary productivity during summer. Mar. Biol. 23, 115–120 (1973)
Kremer, P.: Respiration and excretion by the ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi. Mar. Biol. 44, 43–50 (1977)
Lasker, R.: Feeding, growth, respiration and carbon utilization of a euphausiid crustacean. J. Fish. Res. Bd Can. 23, 1291–1317 (1966)
Lillelund, K. and R. Lasker: Laboratory studies of predation by marine copepods on fish larvae. Fish. Bull. U.S. 69, 655–667 (1971)
Martin, J. H.: Phytoplankton-zooplankton relationships in Narragansett Bay. III. Seasonal changes in zooplankton excretion rates in relation to phytoplankton abundance. Limnol. Oceanogr. 13, 63–71 (1968)
Mayzaud, P.: Respiration and nitrogen excretion of zooplankton. IV. The influence of starvation on the metabolism and the biochemical composition of some species. Mar. Biol. 37, 47–58 (1976)
mayzaud, P. et S. Dallot: Respiration et excrétion azotée du zooplankton. I. Evaluation des niveaux métaboliques de quelques espèces de Méditerranée occidentale. Mar. Biol. 19, 307–314 (1973)
McCarthy, J. J.: A urease method for urea in seawater. Limnol. Oceanogr. 15, 309–313 (1970)
McCarthy, J. J.: The role of urea in marine phytoplankton ecology, 165 pp. Ph. D. thesis, University of California, San Diego 1971
Miller, R. J.: Distribution and energetics of an estuarine population of the ctenophore, Mnemiopsis leidyi 78 pp. Ph. D. thesis, North Carolina State University, Raleigh 1970
Paranjape, M. A.: Molting and respiration of euphausiids. J. Fish. Res. Bd Can. 24, 1229–1240 (1967)
Prosser, C. L. and F. A. Brown, Jr.: Comparative animal physiology, 688 pp. Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders Co. 1961
Raymont, J. E. G.: The respiration of some planktonic copepods. III. The oxygen requirements of some American species. Limnol. Oceanogr. 4, 479–491 (1959)
Reeve, M. R.: Population dynamics of ctenophores in large enclosures over several years. In: Nutrition of the lower metazoa, pp 73–86. Ed. by D. C. Smith and Y. Tiffon. Oxford and New York: Pergamon Press 1980
Reeve, M. R.: Large cod-end reservoirs as an aid to the live collection of delicate zooplankton. Limnol. Oceanogr. 26, 577–580 (1981)
Reeve, M. R. and L. D. Baker: Production of two planktonic carnivores (chaetognath and ctenophore) in South Florida inshore waters. Fish. Bull. U.S. 73, 238–248 (1975)
Reeve, M. R., M. A. Walter and T. Ikeda: Laboratory studies of ingestion and food utilization in lobate and tentaculate ctenophores. Limnol. Oceanogr. 23, 740–751 (1978)
Small, L. F. and J. F. Hebard: Respiration of a vertically migrating marine crustacean, Euphausia pacifica Hansen. Limnol. Oceanogr. 12, 272–280 (1967)
Smith, S. L. and T. E. Whiteledge: The role of zooplankton in the regeneration of nitrogen in a coastal upwelling system off Northwest Africa. Deep-Sea Res. 24, 49–56 (1977)
Solórzano, L.: Determination of ammonia in natural waters by the phenol-hypochlorite method. Limnol. Oceanogr. 14, 799–801 (1969)
Strickland, J. D. H. and T. R. Parsons: A practical handbook of seawater analysis, 2nd ed. Bull. Fish. Res. Bd Can. 167, 1–310 (1972)
Szyper, J. P., J. Hirota, J. Caperon and D. A. Ziemann: Nutrient regeneration by the larger net zooplankton in the Southern Basin of Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, Hawaiian Islands. Pacif Sci. 30, 363–372 (1976)
Takahashi, M. and T. Ikeda: Excretion of ammonia and inorganic phosphorus by Euphausia pacifica and Metridia pacifica at different concentrations of phytoplankton. J. Fish. Res. Bd Can. 32, 2189–2195 (1975)
Zeuthen, E.: Oxygen uptake as related to body size in organisms. Q. Rev. Biol. 28, 1–12 (1953)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Communicated by N.D. Holland, La Jolla
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kremer, P. Effect of food availability on the metabolism of the ctenophore Mnemiopsis mccradyi . Mar. Biol. 71, 149–156 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00394623
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00394623