Ecology and behavior of Bolinopsis infundibulum (Ctenophora; Lobata) in the Northeast Atlantic

• Results from field surveys with net sampling and video profiling, combined with laboratory experiments on feeding and growth, revealed the ecological function of Bolinopsis infundibulum in northern temperate coastal waters. B. infundibulum reaching a peak abundance of around 250 ctenophores m(-2), in mid-May, followed by a dramatic reduction over the next few weeks, presumably explained by predation from the ctenophore Beroe cucumis. The field data on maximum individual body height in the population indicated an instantaneous growth rate of 0.129 d(-1). Newly hatched cydippid larvae showed an average instantaneous growth rate of 0.240 d(-1) over 4 weeks, whereas ctenophores in the size range of 4.4-9.8 mm height gave instantaneous growth rates between 0.10 and 0.20 d(-1). B. infundibulum disappeared from surface water in mid-June, but big individuals were found in deeper water, where they preyed on copepods. The results indicate that the new generation of the year was recruited from February onwards. Laboratory predation and digestion experiments showed a continuous increase in predation rate with increased prey abundance, throughout the tested range of 5-400 copepods l(-1), and a digestion time increasing from 39 min with a single copepod ingested to 73 min with 8 copepods ingested.

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Biological Sciences (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Bolinopsis infundibulum

Ctenophores

Growth rate

Predation rate

Behavior

Digestion rate

erwintering

Life cycle

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