Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T17:55:47.687Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Image Analysis of Faecal Material Grazed Upon by Three Species Of Copepods: Evidence For Coprorhexy, Coprophagy and Coprochaly

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

Thomas T. Noji
Affiliation:
A/S Pixelwerks, Strandkaien 18/20, PO Box 1008, 5001 Bergen, Norway
Kenneth W. Estep
Affiliation:
A/S Pixelwerks, Strandkaien 18/20, PO Box 1008, 5001 Bergen, Norway
Ferren Macintyre
Affiliation:
Institute of Marine Research, PO Box 1870, 5024 Bergen-Nordnes, Norway
Fredrika Norrbin
Affiliation:
Norwegian College of Fishery Science, University of Tromso, Dramsvn 201 B, 9000 Tromsa, Norway

Extract

Experiments involving three species of copepods(Acartia clausi Giesbrecht 1889, Pseudocalanus elongatus Boeck 1872 and Calanusfinmarchicus Gunnerus 1765) incubated with freshly produced copepod faecal material were conducted and analyzed using automatic image analysis. For two species (A. clausi and C. finmarchicus) the bulk of faecal material was not ingested but was fragmented. This process, coprorhexy, was accompanied by a shift toward smaller particles in the particle size-spectrum. Increases in total volume of the faecal particles after incubation with these copepods led us to propose a process which we refer to as 'coprochaly', derived from the Greek xot/Vaoio,(a loosening, as of bandages). Coprochaly was promoted by manipulation of the faecal material by the copepods. For the third species (P.elongatus) coprorhexy and coprochaly were coupled with coprophagy (ingestion of faecal material). Calculations indicated that the combined effect of coprorhexy and coprochaly reduced sinking velocities of the faecal particles by up to 50%. These processes increase pelagic residency time of particles, increase substrate area for aerobic microbes and presumably enhance remineralization of particulate organic matter.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1991

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Alldredge, A.L.Cole, J.J. & Caron, D.A. 1986. Production of heterotrophic bacteria inhabiting macroscopic organic aggregates (marine snow) from surface waters.Limnology and Oceanography, 31, 6878.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alldredge, A.L. & Cohen, Y. 1987. Can microscale chemical patches exist in the sea? Microelectrode study of marine snow, fecal pellets.Science, New York, 235, 689691.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Alldredge, A.L. & Gotschalk, C. 1988. In situ settling behavior of marine snow.Limnology and Oceanography, 33, 339351.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ayukai, T. 1987. Rate of filtering of fecal pellets byAcartia omorii (Copepoda; Calanoida). Journal of the Oceanographic Society of Japan, 42, 487489.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bathmann, U.V.Noji, T.T.Voss, M. & Peinert, R. 1987. Copepod fecal pellets: abundance, sedimentation and content at a permanent station in the Norwegian Sea in May/June, 1986. Marine Ecology Progress Series 38, 4551.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bathmann, U.V.Noji, T.T. & Bodungen, B.V. 1990. Copepod grazing potential in late winter - a factor in the control of spring phytoplankton growth? Marine Ecology Progress Series, 60, 225233.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bienfang, P.K. 1980. Herbivore diet affects fecal pellet settling. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Science, 37, 13521357.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cho, B.C. & Azam, F. 1988. Major role of bacteria in biogeochemical fluxes in the ocean's interior. Nature, London, 332, 441443.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cowles, Tj. & Strickler, J.R. 1983. Characterization of feeding activity patterns in the planktonic copepodCentropages typicus Kreyer under various food conditions. Limnology and Oceanography, 28, 106115.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deibel, D. 1990. Still-water sinking velocity of fecal material from the pelagic tunicate Dolioletta gegenbauri. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 62, 5560.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deuser, W.G.Ross, E.H & Anderson, R.F. 1981. Seasonality in the supply of sediment to the deep Sargasso Sea and implications for the rapid transfer of matter to the deep ocean. Deep-Sea Research, 28, 495505.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dugdale, R.C. & Goering, J.J. 1967. Uptake of new and regenerated forms of nitrogen in primary productivity. Limnology and Oceanography 12, 196206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Estep, K.W.Maclntyre, F.Hjorleifsson, E. & Sieburth, J.McN. 1986. Maclmage: a user-friendly image-analysis system for the accurate mensuration of marine organisms. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 33, 243253.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Estep, K.W & Maclntyre, F. 1989. Counting, sizing, and identification of algae using image analysis. Sarsia, 74, 261268.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frost, B.W. 1987. Grazing control of phytoplankton stock in the open subarctic Pacific Ocean: a model assessing the role of mesozooplankton, particularly the large calanoid copepods Neocalanus spp. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 39, 49–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gifford, D.J.Bohrer, R.N. & Boyd, Cm. 1981. Spines on diatoms: do copepods care? Limnology and Oceanography, 26, 10571061.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Honjo, S.Manganini, S.J. & Wefer, G. 1988. Annual particle flux and a winter outburst of sedimentation in the northern Norwegian Sea. Deep-Sea Research, 35, 12231234.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Honjo, S. & Roman, M.R. 1978. Marine copepod fecal pellets: production, preservation and sedimentation, Journal of Marine Research, 36, 4557.Google Scholar
Jumars, P.A.Penry, D.L.Baross, J.A.Perry, M.J. & Frost, B.W. 1989. Closing the microbial loop:dissolved carbon pathways to heterotrophic bacteria from incomplete ingestion, digestion and absorption in animals. Deep-Sea Research, 36, 483495.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karl, D.M.Knauer, G.A. & Martin, J.H. 1988. Downward flux of particulate organic matter in the ocean: a particle decomposition paradox. Nature, London, 332, 438441.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koehl, M.A.R. & Strickler, J.R. 1981. Copepod feeding currents: food capture at low Reynolds number. Limnology and Oceanography, 26, 10621073.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Komar, P.D.Morse, A.P.Small, L.F. & Fowler, S.W. 1981. An Analysis Of Sinking Rates Of Natural Copepod And Euphausiid Fecal Pellets. Limnology and Oceanography, 26, 172180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lampitt, R.S. 1985. Evidence for the seasonal deposition of detritus to the deep-sea floor and its subsequent resuspension. Deep-Sea Research, 32, 885897.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lampitt, R.Noji, T.T. & Bodungen, B.V. 1990. What happens to zooplankton faecal pellets? Implications for material flux. Marine Biology 104, 1523.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marshall, S.M. & Orr, A.P. 1972. The Biology of a Marine Copepod. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Noji, T.T.Passow, U. & Smetacek, V. 1986. Interaction between pelagial and benthal during autumn in Kiel Bight. I. Development and sedimentation of phytoplankton blooms. Ophelia, 26, 333349.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peinert, R.Bathmann, U.V.Bodungen, B.V. & Noji, T.T. 1987. The impact of grazing on spring phytoplankton growth and sedimentation in the Norwegian Current. In Particle Flux in the Ocean (ed. Degens, E.T. et al) pp. 149164. Hamburg: Universitat Hamburg. [Scope/Unep, Vol. 62.]Google Scholar
Pilskaln, C.H. & Honjo, S. 1987. The fecal pellet fraction of biogeochemical particle fluxes to the deep sea. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 1, 3148.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Poulet, S.A. & Marsot, P. 1980. Chemosensory feeding and food-gathering by omnivorous marine copepods. In Evolution and Ecology of Zooplankton Communities Kerfoot, W.C.) pp. 199218. Hanover, New Hampshire: University Press of New England.Google Scholar
Price, H.J. & Paffenhofer, G.-A. 1986. Capture of small cells by the copepod Eucalanus elongatus. Limnology and Oceanography, 31, 189194.Google Scholar
Price, H.J.Paffenhöfer, G.-A. & Strickler, J.R. 1983. Modes of cell capture in calanoid copepods. Limnology and Oceanography, 28, 116123.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sasaki, H.Hattori, H. &Nishizawa, S. 1988. Downward flux of particulate organic matter and vertical distribution of calanoid copepods in the Oyashio Water in summer. Deep-Sea Research, 35, 505515.Google Scholar
Sieburth, J.McN. 1987. Contrary habitats for redox-specific processes: methanogenesis in oxic waters and oxidation in anoxic water. In Microbes in the Sea (Sleigh, M.A.) pp. 1138. New York: John Wiley and Sons.Google Scholar
Sieburth, J.McN. 1988. The trophic roles of bacteria in marine ecosystems are complicated by synergistic-consortia and mixotrophic-cometabolism. Progress in Oceanography, 21, 117128.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smetacek, V. 1980. Zooplankton standing stock, copepod faecal pellets and particulate detritus in Kiel Bight. Estuarine and Coastal Marine Science, 2, 477490CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smetacek, V. 1985. Role of sinking in diatom life-history cycles: ecological, evolutionary and geological significance. Marine Biology, 84, 239251.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Suess, E. 1988. Effects of microbe. activity Nature, London, 333, 1718.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wakeham, S.G. & Canuel, E.A. 1988. Organic geochemistry of particulate matter in the eastern tropical North Pacific Ocean: implications for particle dynamics.Journal of Marine Research, 46, 183213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar