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Rapid response to changing light environments of the calanoid copepod Calanus sinicus

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Abstract

Calanus sinicus is a large calanoid copepod and a dominant species in the coastal waters of Japan. During a research cruise in Sagami Bay on 18 June 1996, we found C. sinicus performing an “unusual” diel vertical migration (DVM), a behavior that has not been reported in previous studies on this species. This study examined the DVM of C. sinicus under different light environments and revealed the copepod’s characteristic response to light. Field and laboratory results show that the DVM of C. sinicus is flexible and also confirmed its sensitivity and its rapid response to changing light environments. It is suggested that C. sinicus reacts to changes in absolute light intensity. This feature may be common in oceanic copepod species. The copepod’s quick reaction to light variation provides decreased predation risks and increased feeding opportunities, which make them a dominant survivor in coastal water habitats.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Dr. C. Vallet and Mr. N. Nagao, Soka University, for their support and valuable suggestions regarding the present study and for help rendered in the completion of this paper. We would like to express our gratitude to Drs. K. Hamasaki and K. Takahashi, Soka University, Dr. J. Nishikawa and the crew of the R.V. “Tansei Maru”, Ocean Research Institute, University of Tokyo, for their preparation and collaboration in the research cruise. We would also like to thank Dr. T. Kikuchi and Mr. Y. Asakura of Yokohama National University for sampling aboard the R.V. “Tachibana”. We declare that the experiments comply with the current laws of the country in which the experiments were performed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environmental and Natural Resource Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600, Bangi, Malaysia

    T. Yoshida & B. H. R. Othman

  2. Department of Environmental Engineering for Symbiosis, Faculty of Engineering, Soka University, 192-8577, Hachioji, Tokyo, Japan

    T. Toda & S. Taguchi

  3. Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, 7700 Sandholdt Road, Moss Landing, CA, 95039-0628, USA

    V. Kuwahara

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  1. T. Yoshida
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  2. T. Toda
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  3. V. Kuwahara
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  4. S. Taguchi
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  5. B. H. R. Othman
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Correspondence to T. Toda.

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Communicated by T. Ikeda, Hakodate

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Yoshida, T., Toda, T., Kuwahara, V. et al. Rapid response to changing light environments of the calanoid copepod Calanus sinicus . Marine Biology 145, 505–513 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-004-1343-5

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