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Diel vertical migration of the marine copepod Calanopia americana. II. Proximate role of exogenous light cues and endogenous rhythms

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Abstract

The marine copepod Calanopia americana Dahl undergoes twilight diel vertical migration (DVM) in the Newport River estuary, North Carolina, USA, in synchrony with the light:dark cycle. Copepods ascend to the surface at sunset, descend to the bottom around midnight, and make a second ascent and descent before sunrise. Behavioral assays with C. americana in the laboratory during fall 2002/2003 and summer 2004 investigated aspects of three hypotheses for the proximate role of light in DVM: (1) preferendum hypothesis (absolute irradiance), (2) rate of change hypothesis (relative rates of irradiance change), and (3) endogenous rhythm hypothesis. Results suggest that C. americana responds to exogenous light cues consistent with its DVM pattern; changes in absolute irradiance evoked swimming responses that would result in an ascent at sunset and descent at sunrise, while relative rates of irradiance decrease at sunset (−0.0046 s−1) evoked an ascent response, and relative rates of irradiance increase at sunrise (0.0042 s−1) evoked a descent response. Furthermore, C. americana expressed an endogenous rhythm in vertical migration that was positively correlated with field observations of twilight DVM. Collectively, these results indicate that both exogenous light cues and endogenous rhythms play a proximate role in twilight DVM of C. americana, providing redundancy in the causes of its vertical migration.

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Acknowledgements

We thank P. Tester and S. Kibler for providing algal cells, and R. Barber, S. Johnsen, D. Rittschof, and D. Steinberg for comments on an earlier draft of the manuscript. This material is based in part on research supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (ECOHAB grant NA17OP2725 to R. Forward and P. Tester), with additional funding provided by the Oak Foundation.

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  1. J. H. Cohen

    Present address: Marine Science Division, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, 5600 U.S. 1N, Ft. Pierce, FL, 34946, USA

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  1. Duke University Marine Laboratory, Biology Department and Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, Duke University, 135 Duke Marine Lab Rd., Beaufort, NC, 28516, USA

    J. H. Cohen & R. B. Forward Jr.

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  1. J. H. Cohen
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  2. R. B. Forward Jr.
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Correspondence to J. H. Cohen.

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Communicated by J.P. Grassle, New Brunswick

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Cohen, J.H., Forward, R.B. Diel vertical migration of the marine copepod Calanopia americana. II. Proximate role of exogenous light cues and endogenous rhythms. Marine Biology 147, 399–410 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-005-1570-4

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