Skip to main content

Advertisement

Springer Nature Link
Log in

The life cycles of two coexisting copepods, Calanus chilensis and Centropages brachiatus, in the upwelling zone off northern Chile (23°S)

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Marine Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

A time series study of the copepods Calanus chilensis and Centropages brachiatus was carried out at the coastal upwelling zone of Mejillones (23°S, northern Chile), to analyze their annual life cycles in association with upwelling variation. These species co-exist in the upwelling zone. Weekly sampling of zooplankton and oceanographic variables including Chlorophyll-a and phytoplankton composition were obtained during January–December 2002 at a fixed station (ca. 90 m depth). Stages of abundances, their proportions, changes in body length of adult females, sex ratio and egg production rate (EPR), were used as proxies to examine copepods’ demography. Upwelling, assessed by weekly Ekman transport and oceanographic conditions, was intermittent throughout the year with lack of periodicity components. Populations of both copepod species did not correlate with these non-predictable upwelling events. C. chilensis reproduced year-round and the population showed ca. 15 peaks of adults with an average time interval between peaks of 20 days. C. brachiatus showed a similar life cycle, also having 15 peaks of adults at about 22 days of time intervals. Cross-correlation functions and spectral analysis showed that both populations correlated positively through time, but not in phase, evidencing a time lag for their reproductive cycles. The lag was also evident in their population abundances. Both species differ in their development rates and this may result in non-in phase life cycles. Our findings suggest that species-dependent attributes, such as development rates, modulated by adaptations to temperature, might impose constraints in the species life cycles determining the population cycles. Such attributes must be considered when modeling and understanding population dynamics and secondary production of copepods.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+
from $39.99 /Month
  • Starting from 10 chapters or articles per month
  • Access and download chapters and articles from more than 300k books and 2,500 journals
  • Cancel anytime
View plans

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13

Similar content being viewed by others

Explore related subjects

Discover the latest articles, books and news in related subjects, suggested using machine learning.

References

  • Bi H, Enfield M (2006) Eggs production rates and stages specific-development times of Clausucalanos furcatus (Copepoda, Calanoida) in the northern Gulf of Mexico. J Plank Res 28:1199–1216

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bělehràdek J (1935) Temperature and living matter. Protoplasma Monographia, No 8. Borntraeger, Berlin, 277 pp

  • Björnberg TKS (1981) Copepoda. In: Boltovskoy D (ed) Atlas del Zooplankton Atlantico Sudoccidental, Inidep, Argentina, pp 587–677

  • Björnberg TKS, Lopes RM, Björnberg HGC (1994) Chave para a identificação de náuplios de copépodos planctônicos marinhos do Atlantico Sul-ocidental. Nauplius (Sociedad Brasileira de Carcimologia) Brasil 2:1–16

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowden KF (1983) Physical oceanography of coastal waters. Ellis Horwood series on marine science. Wiley, New York, 302 pp

  • Box GEP, Jenkins GM, Reinsel GC (1994) Time series analysis: forecasting and control, 3rd edn. Englewoods Clifs, Prentice-Hall

    Google Scholar 

  • Bradford-Grieve JM, Markhaseva EL, Rocha CEF, Abiahy B (1999) Copepoda. In: Boltovskoy D (ed) South Atlantic Zooplankton. Blackhuys Publishers, The Netherland, pp 869–1098

  • Edmonson WT (1968) A graphical method for evaluating the use of the egg ratio technique for measuring birth and death rates. Oecologica 1:1–37

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Escribano R (1998) Population dynamics of Calanus chilensis in the Chilean Eastern boundary Humboldt current. Fish Oceanogr 7:241–251

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Escribano R, Rodriguez L, Irribarren C (1998) Temperature-dependent development and growth of Calanus chilensis from northern Chile. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 229:19–34

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Escribano R, McLaren IA (1999) Production of Calanus chilensis in the upwelling area of Antofagasta, northern Chile. Mar Ecol Progr Ser 177:147–156

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Escribano R, Hidalgo P (2000a) Spatial distribution of copepods in the north of the Humboldt current region off Chile during coastal upwelling. J Mar Biol Ass UK 80:283–290

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Escribano R, Hidalgo P (2000b) Influence of El Niño and La Niña on the population dynamics of Calanus chilensis in the Humboldt current ecosystem of northern Chile. ICES J Mar Sci 57:1867–1874

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Escribano R, Daneri D, Farías L, Gallardo VA, González HE, Gutierrez D, Lange C, Morales CE, Pizarro O, Ulloa O, Braun M (2004) Biological and chemical consequences of the 1997–1998 El Niño in the Chilean coastal upwelling system: a synthesis. Deep-Sea Res Part II 51(20–21):2389–2411

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Escribano R, Hidalgo P, Krautz C (2008) Zooplankton associated with the oxygen minimum zone off the northern upwelling region of Chile. Deep Sea Res Part II. Oceanography of the Eastern South Pacific, vol 2 (in press)

  • Giraldo A, Escribano R, Marín V (2002) Spatial distribution of Calanus chilensis off Mejillones Peninsula (northern Chile): ecological consequences upon coastal upwelling. Mar Ecol Progr Ser 230:225–234

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Giraldo A, Escribano R, Marín V (2006) A field test of temperature effects on ecophysiological responses of copepodids Calanus chilensis during coastal upwelling in northern Chile. Cont Shelf Res 26:1307–1315

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • González A, Marín V (1998) Distribution and cycle life of Calanus chilensis and Centropages brachiatus (Copepoda): a GIS approach. Mar Ecol Progr Ser 165:109–117

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Graham W, Largier JL (1997) Upwelling shadows as nearshore retention sites: the example of northern Monterey Bay. Cont Shelf Res 17:509–532

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hidalgo P, Escribano R (2001) Succession of pelagic-copepod species during the period 1996/1998 in northern Chile: the influence of the 1997–1998 El Niño. Hydrobiologia 453:153–160

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hidalgo P (2005) Ciclos de vida y mecanismos de adaptación de copépodos pelágicos a la variabilidad oceanográfica en zonas de afloramiento del ecosistema de Corrientes Humboldt. Ph. D. Thesis, Universidad de Concepción

  • Hidalgo P, Escribano R, Morales CE (2005) Annual life cycle of the copepod Eucalanus inermis at a coastal upwelling site off Mejillones (23°S), northern Chile. Mar Biol 146:995–1003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hidalgo P, Escribano R (2007) Coupling of life cycles of the copepods Calanus chilensis and Centropages brachiatus to upwelling induced variability in the central-southern region of Chile. Progr Oceanogr 75:501–517. doi:10.1016/j.pocean.2007.08.028

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marín VH, Rodríguez L, Vallejo L, Fuenteseca J, Oyarce E (1993) Efecto de la surgencia costera sobre la productividad primaveral de bahía Mejillones del Sur (Antofagasta, Chile). Rev Chil Hist Nat 66:479–491

    Google Scholar 

  • Marín VH, Espinosa S, Fleminger A (1994) Morphometric study of Calanus chilensis males along the Chilean coast. Hydrobiologia 292(293):75–80

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marín VH, Escribano R, Delgado LE, Olivares G, Hidalgo P (2001) Nearshore circulation in a coastal upwelling site off the northern Humboldt current system. Cont Shelf Res 21:1317–1329

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marín VH, Delgado L, Escribano R (2003) Upwelling shadows at Bahía Mejillones: an ecosystem analysis. Rev Invest Mar 31:47–55

    Google Scholar 

  • McLaren IA (1995) Temperature-dependent development in marine copepods: comments on choices of models. J Plank Res 17:1385–1390

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parsons TR, Maita Y, Lalli CM (1984) A manual of chemical and biological methods for seawater analysis. Pergamon Press, Oxford, 173 pp

  • Peters RH (1993) Ecological implications of body size. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Peterson W (1998) Life cycles strategies of copepods in coastal upwelling zones. J Mar Sys 15:313–326

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Quinn JP, Keough MJ (2002) Experimental design and data analysis for biologists. Cambridge University Press, NY, p 537

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Thiel M, Macaya E, Acuña E, Arntz W, Bastias H, Brokordt K, Camus P, Castilla JC, Castro L, Cortés M, Dumont CP, Escribano R, Fernández M, Lancellotti DA, Fajardo JA, Gaymer CF, Gomez I, González AE, Gonzalez HE, Haye PA, Illanes J-E, Iriarte JL, Luna-Jorquera G, Luxoro C, Manriquez PH, Marín VH, Muñoz P, Navarrete SA, Perez E, Poulin E, Sellanes J, Sepúlveda A, Stotz W, Tala F, Thomas A, Vargas CA, Vasquez JA, Vega A (2007) The Humboldt current system of northern-central Chile oceanographic processes, ecological interactions and socio-economic feedback. Marine Biol Oceanogr Annu Rev 45:195–344

    Google Scholar 

  • Uthermöhl H (1958) Zur Vervollkommnung der quantitaven Pytoplankton-Methodik. Mitt Int Verein Theor Angew Limnol 9:1–38

    Google Scholar 

  • Vargas C, Escribano R, Poulet S (2006) Phytoplankton diversity determines time-windows for successful zooplankton reproductive pulses. Ecology 87:2992–2999

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work was funded by FONDAP COPAS Center and CENSOR (Climate Variability and the El Niño southern oscillation: implications for natural resources and management) project funded by the EU Commission, Grant INCO 511071, and FONDECYT Postdoctoral Fund of CONICYT Chile, Grant: No 3070002 to P. Hidalgo. We are grateful to Universidad de Antofagasta for supporting the time series at Mejillones, and M. Oliva, M. Rojo and L. Figueroa for assisting us with a highly laborious sampling. Comments and suggestions from two anonymous reviewers proved highly valuable to improve earlier versions of the work.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Biología Marina, Universidad Austral de Chile, Casilla 567, Valdivia, Chile

    Pamela Hidalgo

  2. Departamento de Oceanografía, Center for Oceanographic Research in the Eastern South Pacific (COPAS), Universidad de Concepción, Estación de Biología Marina, Dichato, Casilla 42 Dichato, Concepción, Chile

    Pamela Hidalgo & Ruben Escribano

Authors
  1. Pamela Hidalgo
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ruben Escribano
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pamela Hidalgo.

Additional information

Communicated by U. Sommer.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hidalgo, P., Escribano, R. The life cycles of two coexisting copepods, Calanus chilensis and Centropages brachiatus, in the upwelling zone off northern Chile (23°S). Mar Biol 155, 429–442 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-008-1041-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-008-1041-9

Keywords