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Physioecology of zooplankton. II. Effects of phytoplankton concentration, temperature, and body size on the development and molting rates of Calanus pacificus and Pseudocalanus sp.

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Abstract

Developmental time and stage duration for Calanus pacificus Brodsky and Pseudocalanus sp. and the rate of loss of body carbon by molting for C. pacificus were estimated for copepodite stages cultured under various combinations of phytoplankton concentration and temperature. Mean development time and stage duration for C. pacificus decreased hyperbolically with increasing food concentration, and the minimum time required for reaching a given stage decreased logarithmically with a logarithmic increase in temperature. Low temperature retarded the development of early stages proportionally more than that of late stages, and stage duration increased logarithmically with increasing body weight. Therefore, copepodite development was not isochronal. The rate of loss of body carbon by molting was small, ranging from 0.2 to 2% day-1. This rate increased hyperbolically with food concentration and was linearly related to the growth rate. The critical food concentration for the rates of development and molting increased with temperature and stage of development, but these rates were less dependent on food concentration than the growth rate. The development rate of Pseudocalanus sp. was higher than that of C. pacificus, and was less influenced by changes in food concentration and temperature. It is postulated that the inverse relationship between temperature and body size results from a differential effect of temperature and body size on the rates of growth and development. That is, with increasing body size the growth rate tends to become temperature-independent, but the development rate remains proportional to temperature. Thus, copepodites growing at low temperature can experience a greater weight increment between molting periods than individuals growing at high temperature, because the growth rate is similar at all temperatures but stage duration is longer at low temperature.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Oceanographic Sciences Division, Brookhaven National Laboratory, 11973, Upton, New York, USA

    J. Vidal

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  1. J. Vidal
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Communicated by I. Morris, West Boothbay Harbor

Contribution No. 1128 from the Department of Oceanography, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA

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Vidal, J. 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 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00397130

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