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Density‐dependent nutritional value of the dinoflagellate Cochlodinium polykrikoides to the copepod Acartia tonsa
Author(s) -
Jiang Xiaodong,
Lonsdale Darcy J.,
Gobler Christopher J.
Publication year - 2010
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.2010.55.4.1643
Subject(s) - acartia tonsa , copepod , biology , dinoflagellate , ecology , zoology , crustacean
The nutritional value of the dinoflagellate Cochlodinium polykrikoides to the copepod Acartia tons a was evaluated over a range of ecologically relevant cell densities. Based on egg production rate, egg hatching success, and naupliar recruitment rate of A. tonsa , mixed‐diet experiments indicated C. polykrikoides was nutritionally insufficient or had no nutritional value to A. tonsa at 600 µg C L −1 (330 cells mL −1 ), and was toxic at 1000 µg C L −1 (550 cells mL −1 ) when compared with the nontoxic flagellate Rhodomonas lens . However, the nutritional value of C. polykrikoides to A. tonsa at 100 and 200 µg C L −1 (55 and 110 cells mL −1 ) was greater than or equal to that of R. lens . The density‐dependent nutritional value of C. polykrikoides to A. tonsa was also demonstrated in the long‐term survival experiments. Survivorship of A. tonsa fed C. polykrikoides was lower than those fed R. lens at 900 and 1800 µg C L −1 . In contrast, C. polykrikoides supported higher survivorship of A. tonsa than R. lens at 180 and 540 µg C L −1 . The nutritional value of C. polykrikoides to A. tonsa decreased from beneficial to deleterious with increasing cell density. A putatively "harmful" alga is not always deleterious to grazers, and its ecological effects may be distinctly different during bloom and non‐bloom periods.