Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Analysis of the biological cycle of Acartia clausi (Copepoda) in a meso-oligotrophic coastal area of the eastern Mediterranean Sea using time-series analysis

  • Published:
Marine Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We evaluated the duration of Copepodite Stages C1 to C6, the biological cycle and the number of annual generations of the planktonic copepod Acartia clausi in a meso-oligotrophic area of the eastern Mediterranean Sea (Saronikos Gulf, Greece). The results were based on 95 zooplankton samples collected during the period November 1988 through June 1990, at intervals of 1, 2, 7 and 15 d, the sampling intervals being dependent on the abundance of A. clausi. Time-series analysis (cross-correlation) of fluctuations in the comparative abundance (percentages) of the copepodite stages present was used to determine the duration of the development stages and generation length. This methodology could significantly contribute to the identification of cohorts, and hence to the estimation of stage duration, from field data for a given copepod species. The development of A. clausi stages was not isochronal; duration of the first copepodite stage was shorter than that of the last three stages. The mean generation length estimated (28.6 d) is among the highest recorded in the literature for A. clausi at the range of temperatures prevailing in the area (13 to 25°C). Throughout the year there were four or five generations. The possible limiting role of food availability on the duration of each stage and hence on generation length is also discussed.

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

Access this article

Log in via an institution

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

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

Literature cited

  • Azov, Y. (1991). Eastern Mediterranean — a marine desert? Mar. Pollut. Bull. 23: 225–232

    Google Scholar 

  • Bougis, P. (1976). Marine plankton ecology, North-Holland, Amsterdam

    Google Scholar 

  • Bray, J. R., Curtis, J. T. (1957). An ordination of the upland forest communities of Southern Wisconsin. Ecol. Monogr. 27: 325–349

    Google Scholar 

  • Burkill, P. H., Kendall, T. F. (1982). Production of the copepod Eurytemora affinis in the Bristol Channel. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 7: 21–31

    Google Scholar 

  • Christou, E. (1990). Fluctuations of zooplankton, during spring and summer in a coastal area of the Saronikos Gulf. [in Greek] In: Proceedings of the Third Hellenic Symposium of Oceanography and Fisheries. N.C.M.R., Athens, p. 513–520

    Google Scholar 

  • Clarke, K. R., Green, R. H. (1988). Statistical design and analysis for “biological effects” study. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 46: 213–226

    Google Scholar 

  • Clarke, K. R., Warwick, M. (1989). Lecture notes on the statistical treatment and interpretation of marine community data. Part II. In: Report of the training workshop organised in the framework of the long-term programme for the pollution, monitoring and research in the Mediterranean (MED POL-Phase II), Athens, September 1989. United Nations Environment Programme, Athens, p. 91–124

    Google Scholar 

  • Corkett, C. J. (1968). La reproduction en laboratoire des copépodes marins Acartia clausi Giesbrecht et Idya furcata Baird. Pélagos, Bull. Inst. océanogr. Alger. 10: 77–90

    Google Scholar 

  • Corkett, C. J., McLaren, I. A. (1970). Relationships between development rate of eggs and older stages of copepods. J. mar. biol. Ass. U. K. 50: 161–168

    Google Scholar 

  • Durbin, E. G., Durbin, A. G., Smayda, T. J., Verity, P. G. (1983). Food limitation of production by adult Acartia tonsa in Narragansett Bay Rhode Island. Limnol. Oceanogr. 28: 1199–1213

    Google Scholar 

  • Edmondson, W. T., Winberg, G. G. (1971). A manual on methods for the assessment of secondary production in fresh waters. Blackwell, Oxford (IBP Handbook No. 17)

    Google Scholar 

  • Field, J. G., Clark, K. R., Warwick, R. M. (1982). A practical strategy for analyzing multispecies distribution patterns. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 8: 37–52

    Google Scholar 

  • Field, J. G., McFarlane (1968). Numerical methods in marine ecology. I. A quantitative similarity analysis of rocky shore samples in False Bay, South Africa. Zoologica african. 3: 119–138

    Google Scholar 

  • Friligos, N. (1982). Enrichment of inorganic nutrients in the Inner Saronikos Gulf (1973–1976). Mar. Pollut. Bull. 13: 154–158

    Google Scholar 

  • Friligos, N. (1984). Nutrients of the Saronikos Gulf in relation to environmental characteristics (1973–1976). Hydrobiologia 112: 17–25

    Google Scholar 

  • García-Soto, C., de Madariaga, I., Villate, F., Orive, E. (1990). Day-to-day variability in the plankton community of a coastal shallow embayment in response to changes in river runoff and water turbulence. Estuar., cstl. Shelf Sci. 31: 217–229

    Google Scholar 

  • Gaudy, R. (1970). Contribution à la connaissance du cycle biologique et de la physiologie de copépodes du golfe de Marseille. Thèse d'Etat, Université de Marseille

  • Gaudy, R. (1976). Etude du placton de la zone de la rade de Villefranche-Sur-Mer à la fin de printemps (17 mai au 16 juin 1971). Vie Milieu 26: 77–106

    Google Scholar 

  • Gaudy, R. (1984). Biological cycle of Centropages typicus in the North-Western Mediterranean neritic waters. Crustaceana (Suppl.) 7: 200–213

    Google Scholar 

  • Greze, V. N. (1978). Production in animal populations. In: O. Kinne (ed.) Marine ecology. IV. Dynamics. Wiley & Sons, London, p. 89–114

    Google Scholar 

  • Hart, R. C. (1991). Food and suspended sediment influences on the naupliar and copepodid durations for freshwater copepods: comparative studies on Tropodiaptomus and Metadiaptomus. J. Plankton Res. 13: 645–660

    Google Scholar 

  • Hay, S. J., Evans, G. T., Gamble, J. C. (1988). Birth, growth and death rates for enclosed populations of calanoid copepods. J. Plankton Res. 10: 431–454

    Google Scholar 

  • Herman, P. M. J., Heip, C., Guillemijn, B. (1984). Production of Tachidius discipes (Copepoda: Harpacticoida). Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 17: 271–278

    Google Scholar 

  • Ianora, A., Mazzochi, M. G., Scotto Di Carlo, B. (1985). Zooplankton community structure for coastal waters of the gulf of Naples in the summer of 1983. Rapp. P.-v. Réun. Commn int. Explor. scient. Mer Méditerr. 29: 299–300

    Google Scholar 

  • Ignatiades, L., Karydis, M., Vassiliou, A., Moschopoulou, N. (1982). Hydrography. [in Greek] Data report of phytoplankton ecology of Saronikos Gulf, Aegean Sea. Nuclear Research Centre Democritos, Athens [DEMO (83/1)]

    Google Scholar 

  • Ignatiades, L., Moschopoulou, N., Karydis, M., Vassiliou, A. (1983) Phytoplankton. [in Greek] Data report of phytoplankton ecology of Saronikos Gulf. Aegean Sea. Nuclear Research Centre Democritos, Athens [DEMO (83/8)]

    Google Scholar 

  • Iwasaki, H., Katoh, H., Fujiyama, T. (1977). Cultivation of marine copepod Acartia clausi Giesbrecht. I. Factors affecting the generation time and egg production. Bull. Plankton Soc. Japan 24: 55–61

    Google Scholar 

  • Kawabata, K. (1989). Natural development time of Eudiaptomus japonicus (Copepoda: Calanoida) in Lake Biwa. J. Plankton Res. 11: 1261–1271

    Google Scholar 

  • Kimmerer, W. J., McKinnon, A. D. (1985). A comparative study of zooplankton in two adjacent embayment, Port Phillip and Westernport Bays, Australia, Estuar., cstl. Shelf Sci. 21: 145–159

    Google Scholar 

  • Klein Breteler, W. C. M., Fransz, H. G., Gonzalez, S. R. (1982). Growth and development of four calanoid copepod species under experimental and natural conditions. Neth. J. Sea Res. 16: 195–207

    Google Scholar 

  • Landry, M. R. (1975). The relationship between temperature and the development of life stages of the marine copepod Acartia clausi Giesbrecht. Limnol. Oceanogr. 20: 854–857

    Google Scholar 

  • Landry, M. R. (1978). Population dynamics and production of a planktonic marine copepod, Acartia clausi, in a small temperate lagoon on San Juan Island, Washington. Int. Revue ges. Hydrobiol. 63: 77–119

    Google Scholar 

  • Landry, M. R. (1983). The development of marine calanoid copepods with comment on the isochronal rule. Limnol. Oceanogr. 28: 614–624

    Google Scholar 

  • Laskaratos, A., Kaltsounidis, N. (1989). The Inner Saronikos Gulf physical oceanography: elaboration of existing data and measurements of sea level. [in Greek] Final report on the study of the hydrodynamics and pollution by the effluents of Athens. University of Athens, Athens

    Google Scholar 

  • Legendre, L., Legendre, P. (1983). Numerical ecology. Elsevier, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindahl, O., Perissinotto, P. (1987). Short-term variations in the zooplankton community related to water exchange in the Gullmar fjord, Sweden. J. Plankton Res. 9: 1113–1132

    Google Scholar 

  • Martens, P. (1981). On the Acartia species of the northern Wadden Sea of Sylt. Kieler Meeresforsch. 5: 153–163

    Google Scholar 

  • McLaren, I. A. (1978). Generation lengths of some temperate marine copepods: estimation, prediction and implications. J. Fish. Res. Bd Can. 35: 1330–1342

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, C. B., Johnson, J. K., Heinle, D. R. (1977). Growth rules in the marine copepod genus Acartia. Limnol. Oceanogr. 22: 326–335

    Google Scholar 

  • Omori, M., Ikeda, T. (1984). Methods in marine zooplankton ecology. Wiley & Sons, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Pagano, M., Saint-Jean, L. (1983). Croissance en poids d'Acartica clausi en lagune Ébrié (Côte d'Ivoire). Revue Hydrobiol. trop. 16: 151–163

    Google Scholar 

  • Sekiguchi, H. (1985). Biology of cladocerans and copepods in Ise Bay. 2. Vertical distribution of neritic copepods in relation to their life histories. Bull. Fac. Fish. Mie Univ. 12: 1–12

    Google Scholar 

  • Sokal, R. R., Sneath, P. H. A. (1963). Principles of numerical taxonomy. W. H. Freeman & Co., San Francisco

    Google Scholar 

  • Specchi, M., Fonda Umani, S., Radini, G. (1981). Les fluctuations du zooplancton dans une station fixe du Golfe de Trieste (Haute Adriatique). Rapp. P.-v. Réun. Commn int. Explor. scient. Mer Méditerr. 27: 97–100

    Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan, B. K., McManus, L. T. (1986). Factors controlling seasonal succession of the copepods Acartia hudsonica and A. tonsa in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island: temperature and resting egg production. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 28: 121–128

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, B. M. (1982). Growth and development of Pseudocalanus elongatus and Calanus sp. in the laboratory. J. mar. biol. Ass. U.K. 62: 359–372

    Google Scholar 

  • Tranter, D. J. (1976). Herbivore production. In: Rushing, D. H., Walsh, J. J. (eds.) The ecology of the seas. Blackwell, Oxford, p. 186–224

    Google Scholar 

  • Tranter, D. J., Smith, P. E. (1968). Zooplankton sampling, Monogr. oceanogr. Methodol. (UNESCO) 2: 27–56

    Google Scholar 

  • Ueda, H. (1978). Analysis of the generations of inlet copepods with special reference to Acartia clausi in Maizuru Bay, middle Japan. Bull. Plankton Soc. Japan 25: 55–66

    Google Scholar 

  • Ueda, H. (1981). Hatching time of Acartia clausi (Copepoda) eggs isolated from the seawater in Maizuru Bay. Bull. Plankton Soc. Japan 28: 13–17

    Google Scholar 

  • Ueda, H., Kuwahara, A., Tanaka, M., Azeta, M. (1983). Underwater observations on copepod swarms in temperate and subtropical waters. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 11: 165–172

    Google Scholar 

  • Uye, S. (1980). Development of neritic copepods Acartia clausi and A. steueri. II. Isochronal larval development at various temperatures. Bull. Plankton Soc. Japan 27: 11–18

    Google Scholar 

  • Uye, S. (1982). Population dynamics and production of Acartia clausi Giesbrecht (Copepoda: Calanoida) in inlet waters. J. exp. mar. Biol. Ecol. 57: 55–83

    Google Scholar 

  • Uye, S., Iwai, Y., Kasahara, S. (1983). Growth and production of the inshore marine copepod Pseudodiaptomus marinus in the central part of the Island Sea of Japan. Mar. Biol. 73: 91–98

    Google Scholar 

  • Vidal, J. (1980). Physioecology of zooplankton. II. Effects of phytoplankton concentration, temperature, and body size on the development and molting rates of Calanus pacificus and Pseudocalanus sp. Mar. Biol. 56: 135–146

    Google Scholar 

  • Woodmansee, R. A. (1958). The seasonal distribution of the zooplankton of Chicken Bay, Florida. Ecology 39: 247–262

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Agios Kosmas, National Centre for Marine Research, Hellinikon, GR-166 04, Athens, Greece

    E. D. Christou

  2. Zoological Laboratory, University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis, GR-157 84, Athens, Greece

    G. C. Verriopoulos

Authors
  1. E. D. Christou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. G. C. Verriopoulos
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Additional information

Communicated by J. M. Pérès, Marseille

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Christou, E.D., Verriopoulos, G.C. Analysis of the biological cycle of Acartia clausi (Copepoda) in a meso-oligotrophic coastal area of the eastern Mediterranean Sea using time-series analysis. Marine Biology 115, 643–651 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00349372

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00349372

Keywords

Search

Navigation