Premium
The timing of benthic copepod emergence
Author(s) -
Teasdale Michael,
Vopel Kay,
Thistle David
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
limnology and oceanography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.7
H-Index - 197
eISSN - 1939-5590
pISSN - 0024-3590
DOI - 10.4319/lo.2004.49.3.0884
Subject(s) - copepod , benthic zone , flume , oceanography , sediment , environmental science , sampling (signal processing) , dusk , ecology , biology , flow (mathematics) , geology , crustacean , paleontology , physics , detector , mechanics , optics
We investigated emergence of marine benthic harpacticoid and cyclopoid copepods from subtidal sediment into the bottom water. Previous studies that used traps in the field found that copepods emerged from the sediment within 2 h of dusk. We examined emergence in 20‐min sampling periods over 13 h from 1200 to 0100 h in a laboratory flume under conditions of constant flow speed. The light intensity was adjusted to field conditions every 20 min. We observed a peak in emergence during the 20‐min sampling period after the onset of darkness, greatly increasing the accuracy with which the timing of emergence is known. This result will help to set the stage for studies of emergence cues.