Abstract
Microplankton cages with porous polycarbonate membrane sides were used to investigate the population growth of Favella sp., a large tintinnid which preys on dinoflagellates, Balanion sp., a non-loricate ciliate which also preys on dinoflagellates, and two other tintinnids, Eutintinnus pectinis and Tintinnopsis kofoidi, at close to in-situ conditions in a small estuary during a spring dinoflagellate bloom. The effects of temperature and food concentration on the growth of Favella sp. and Balanion sp. were also investigated in culture. Growth rates in the field were variable from day to day. The highest net growth constant (base e) observed for Favella sp. in the cages was 0.032 (generation time 21.7 h). This was lower than growth constants which can be achieved in culture. Food availability, parasitism by the dinoflagellate Duboscquella sp., and perhaps life cycle events all contributed to the lower net growth rate of Favella sp. in the field. The highest net growth constant observed in the cages for Balanion sp. was 0.068 (generation time=10.7 h), which is also lower than growth constants achieved in culture. The growth of Balanion sp. populations in the cages was limited by the availability of small-sized dinoflagellates and by predation. The highest net growth constants observed for E. pectinis and T. kofoidi were 0.030 and 0.068, respectively; we know little about the factors controlling the growth of these tintinnids.
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Communicated by R. O. Fournier, Halifax
Contribution No. 5291 of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
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Stoecker, D., Davis, L.H. & Provan, A. Growth of Favella sp. (Ciliata: Tintinnina) and other microzooplankters in cages incubated in situ and comparison to growth in vitro . Mar. Biol. 75, 293–302 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00406015
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00406015