Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Vertical distribution and dietary preferences of deep-sea copepods (Euchaetidae and Aetideidae; Calanoida) in the vicinity of the Antarctic Polar Front

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Polar Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Four Paraeuchaeta species and three aetideids were frequently encountered along 51°30′S in the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean. Paraeuchaeta antarctica was most abundant close to the Antarctic Polar Front. Within the genera Paraeuchaeta and Gaetanus, congeners usually partitioned the water column. Euchaetidae had high lipid (≤37% dry mass, DM in adult females) and wax ester contents (≤22% DM). Fatty acid composition of Paraeuchaeta spp. was dominated by monounsaturated moieties, especially 16:1(n-7) and 18:1(n-9), while fatty alcohols were mainly saturated. Surprisingly, only the bathypelagic P. barbata contained moderate amounts of 20:1(n-9) and 22:1(n-11) fatty acids (≤14%) and high levels of the respective fatty alcohols (≤50%), generally considered trophic biomarkers for calanid copepods as prey. Thus, herbivorous calanid copepods seem to be a readily available prey source at bathypelagic depths, indicating that their seasonal vertical migration provides a “trophic shortcut” from primary production at the surface to the interior of the ocean. Aetideidae also contained substantial levels of total lipid (14–36% DM), but wax esters contributed only up to 12% DM in copepodite stages C5 of Gaetanus spp., whereas other stages of Gaetanus and Aetideopsis minor only contained ≤6% DM of wax esters. The fatty acid compositions of Aetideidae were more balanced with 16:0, 18:1(n-9), 20:5(n-3), and 22:6(n-3) as important components, indicating a generally omnivorous feeding behaviour.

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.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Albers CS, Kattner G, Hagen W (1996) The compositions of wax esters, triacylglycerols and phospholipids in Arctic and Antarctic copepods: evidence of energetic adaptations. Mar Chem 55:347–358. doi:10.1016/S0304-4203(96)00059-X

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Alonzo F, Mayzaud P, Razouls S (2000a) Egg production, population structure and biochemical composition of the subantarctic copepod Paraeuchaeta antarctica in the Kerguelen Archipelago. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 205:207–217. doi:10.3354/meps205207

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alonzo F, Mayzaud P, Razouls S (2000b) Egg-production dynamics, biochemical composition and hatching success of the subantarctic copepod Paraeuchaeta antarctica: laboratory studies. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 205:219–227. doi:10.3354/meps205219

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Atkinson A (1991) Life cycles of Calanoides acutus, Calanus simillimus and Rhincalanus gigas (Copepoda: Calanoida) within the Scotia Sea. Mar Biol (Berl) 109:79–91. doi:10.1007/BF01320234

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Atkinson A, Ward P (1988) Summer–winter differences in copepod distribution around South Georgia. Hydrobiologia 167(168):325–334. doi:10.1007/BF00026321

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Auel H (1999) The ecology of Arctic deep-sea copepods (Euchaetidae and Aetideidae). Aspects of their distribution, trophodynamics and effect on the carbon flux. Ber Polarforsch 319:1–97

    Google Scholar 

  • Auel H, Hagen W (2005) Body mass and lipid dynamics of Arctic and Antarctic deep-sea copepods (Calanoida, Paraeuchaeta): ontogenetic and seasonal trends. Deep Sea Res 52:1272–1283. doi:10.1016/j.dsr.2005.01.005

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boysen-Ennen E, Hagen W, Hubold G, Piatkowski U (1991) Zooplankton biomass in the ice-covered Weddell Sea, Antarctica. Mar Biol (Berl) 111:227–235. doi:10.1007/BF01319704

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dalsgaard J, St John M, Kattner G, Müller-Navarra D, Hagen W (2003) Fatty acid trophic markers in the pelagic marine environment: a review. Adv Mar Biol 46:225–340. doi:10.1016/S0065-2881(03)46005-7

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Falk-Petersen S, Hopkins CCE, Sargent JR (1990) Trophic relationships in the pelagic, arctic food web. In: Barnes M, Gibson RN (eds) Trophic relationships in the marine environment. Aberdeen University Press, Aberdeen, pp 315–333

    Google Scholar 

  • Folch J, Lees M, Sloane-Stanley GH (1957) A simple method for the isolation purification of total lipids from animal tissues. J Biol Chem 226:497–509

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Graeve M, Hagen W, Kattner G (1994a) Herbivorous or omnivorous? On the significance of lipid compositions as trophic markers in Antarctic copepods. Deep Sea Res 41:915–924. doi:10.1016/0967-0637(94)90083-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Graeve M, Kattner G, Hagen W (1994b) Diet-induced changes in the fatty acid composition of Arctic herbivorous copepods: experimental evidence of trophic markers. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 182:97–110. doi:10.1016/0022-0981(94)90213-5

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hagen W (2000) Lipids. In: Harris R, Wiebe P, Lenz J, Skjoldal H, Huntley M (eds) ICES Zooplankton methodology manual. Academic Press, San Diego, pp 113–119

    Google Scholar 

  • Hagen W, Auel H (2001) Seasonal adaptations and the role of lipids in oceanic zooplankton. Zoology 104:313–326. doi:10.1078/0944-2006-00037

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hagen W, Kattner G, Graeve M (1995) On the lipid biochemistry of polar copepods: compositional differences in the Antarctic calanoids Euchaeta antarctica and Euchirella rostromagna. Mar Biol (Berl) 123:451–457. doi:10.1007/BF00349224

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins TL (1985a) Food web of an Antarctic midwater ecosystem. Mar Biol (Berl) 89:197–212. doi:10.1007/BF00392890

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins TL (1985b) The zooplankton community of Croker Passage, Antarctic Peninsula. Polar Biol 4:161–170. doi:10.1007/BF00263879

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins TL (1987) Midwater food web in McMurdo Sound, Ross Sea, Antarctica. Mar Biol (Berl) 96:93–106. doi:10.1007/BF00394842

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins TL, Torres JJ (1988) The zooplankton community in the vicinity of the ice edge, western Weddell Sea, March 1986. Polar Biol 9:79–87. doi:10.1007/BF00442033

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins TL, Torres JJ (1989) Midwater food web in the vicinity of a marginal ice zone in the western Weddell Sea. Deep Sea Res 36:543–560. doi:10.1016/0198-0149(89)90005-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins TL, Ainley DG, Torres JJ, Lancraft TM (1993) Trophic structure in open waters of the marginal ice zone in the Scotia-Weddell confluence region during spring (1983). Polar Biol 13:389–397. doi:10.1007/BF01681980

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kattner G, Fricke HSG (1986) Simple gasliquid chromatography method for the simultaneous determination of fatty acids and alcohols in wax esters of marine organisms. J Chromatogr A 361:263–268. doi:10.1016/S0021-9673(01)86914-4

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kattner G, Hagen W (1998) Lipid metabolism of the Antarctic euphausiid Euphausia crystallorophias and ecological implications. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 170:203–213. doi:10.3354/meps170203

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kattner G, Graeve M, Hagen W (1994) Ontogenetic and seasonal changes in lipid and fatty acid/alcohol compositions of the dominant Antarctic copepods Calanus propinquus, Calanoides acutus and Rhincalanus gigas. Mar Biol (Berl) 118:637–644. doi:10.1007/BF00347511

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Laakmann S, Kochzius M, Auel H (submitted) Ecological niches of Arctic deep-sea copepods: vertical partitioning, dietary preferences and different trophic levels minimize inter-specific competition. Deep Sea Res

  • Lee RF, Hirota J (1973) Wax esters in tropical zooplankton and nekton and the geographical distribution of wax esters in marine copepods. Limnol Oceanogr 18:227–239

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lee RF, Hirota J, Barnett AM (1971) Distribution and importance of wax esters in marine copepods and other zooplankton. Deep Sea Res 18:1147–1165

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lee RF, Nevenzel JC, Lewis AG (1974) Lipid changes during life cycle of marine copepod, Euchaeta japonica Marukawa. Lipids 9:891–898. doi:10.1007/BF02532615

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lee RF, Hagen W, Kattner G (2006) Lipid storage in marine zooplankton. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 307:273–306. doi:10.3354/meps307273

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Littlepage JL (1964) Seasonal variation in lipid content of two Antarctic marine crustacea. In: Carrick R, Holdgate MW, Prevost J (eds) Biologie antarctique. Hermann, Paris, pp 463–470

    Google Scholar 

  • Markhaseva EL (1996) Calanoid copepods of the family Aetideidae of the world ocean, vol Proceedings of Zoology Institute, Russian Academy of Science, St Petersburg

  • Mauchline J (1992) Taxonomy, distribution and biology of Euchaeta barbata (=E. farrani) (Copepoda: Calanoida). Sarsia 77:131–142

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayzaud P, Errhif A, Bedo AW (1998) Distribution of plankton lipids and their role in the biological transformation of Antarctic primary production. J Mar Syst 17:391–410. doi:10.1016/S0924-7963(98)00051-7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Michels J, Schnack-Schiel SB (2005) Feeding in dominant Antarctic copepods—does the morphology of the mandibular gnathobases relate to diet? Mar Biol (Berl) 146:483–495. doi:10.1007/s00227-004-1452-1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olsen EM, Jørstad T, Kaartvedt S (2000) The feeding strategies of two large marine copepods. J Plankton Res 22:1513–1528. doi:10.1093/plankt/22.8.1513

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Øresland V (1991) Feeding of the carnivorous copepod Euchaeta antarctica in Antarctic waters. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 78:41–47. doi:10.3354/meps078041

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Øresland V (1995) Winter population structure and feeding of the chaetognath Eukrohnia hamata and the copepod Euchaeta antarctica in Gerlache Strait, Antarctic Peninsula. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 119:77–86. doi:10.3354/meps119077

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Øresland V, Ward P (1993) Summer and winter diet of four carnivorous copepod species around South Georgia. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 98:73–78. doi:10.3354/meps098073

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Park T (1978) Calanoid copepods from the Antarctic and Subantarctic waters (Euchaetidae and Aetideidae). Antarct Res Ser 27:91–290

    Google Scholar 

  • Park T (1994a) Taxonomy and distribution of the marine calanoid copepod family Euchaetidae. Bulletin of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography University of California, San Diego, 29

  • Park T (1994b) Geographic distribution of the bathypelagic genus Paraeuchaeta (Copepoda, Calanoida). Hydrobiologia 292(293):317–332. doi:10.1007/BF00229957

    Google Scholar 

  • Peters J, Renz J, Beusekom van J, Boersma M, Hagen W (2006) Trophodynamics and seasonal cycle of the copepod Pseudocalanus acuspes in the Central Baltic Sea (Bornholm Basin): evidence from lipid composition. Mar Biol (Berl) 149:1417–1429. doi:10.1007/s00227-006-0290-8

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Razouls C (1994) Manuel d’identification des principales espèces de copépodes pélagiques antarctiques et subantarctiques. Annales de l’Institut océanographique. Paris 70(1):3–204

    Google Scholar 

  • Razouls S, Razouls C, Bovée de F (2000) Biodiversity and biogeography of Antarctic copepods. Antarct Sci 12:343–362. doi:10.1017/S0954102000000407

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sargent JR, Henderson RJ (1986) Lipids. In: Corner EDS, O’Hara SCM (eds) The biological chemistry of marine copepods. Claredon Press, Oxford, pp 59–108

    Google Scholar 

  • Schnack-Schiel SB, Hagen W, Mizdalski E (1998) Seasonal carbon distribution of copepods in the eastern Weddell Sea, Antarctica. J Mar Syst 17:305–311. doi:10.1016/S0924-7963(98)00045-1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schnack-Schiel SB, Michels J, Mizdalski E, Schodlok MP, Schröder M (2008) Composition and community structure of zooplankton in the sea ice-covered western Weddell Sea in spring 2004—with emphasis on calanoid copepods. Deep Sea Res 55:1040–1055. doi:10.1016/j.dsr2.2007.12.013

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ward P (1989) The distribution of zooplankton in an Antarctic fjord at South Georgia during summer and winter. Antarct Sci 1:141–150. doi:10.1017/S0954102089000210

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ward P, Shreeve R (1999) The spring mesozooplankton community at South Georgia: a comparison of shelf and oceanic sites. Polar Biol 22:289–301. doi:10.1007/s003000050422

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ward P, Wood AG (1988) The distribution of the Euchaetidae (Copepoda: Calanoida) around South Georgia. Polar Biol 9:45–52. doi:10.1007/BF00441763

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ward P, Shreeve R, Cripps GC (1996) Rhincalanus gigas and Calanus simillimus: lipid storage patterns of two species of copepod in the seasonally ice-free zone of the Southern Ocean. J Plankton Res 18:1439–1454. doi:10.1093/plankt/18.8.1439

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yen J (1987) Predation by a carnivorous marine copepod, Euchaeta norvegica, Boeck, on eggs and larvae of the North Atlantic cod Gadus morhua L. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 112:283–296. doi:10.1016/0022-0981(87)90074-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yen J (1991) Predatory feeding behaviour of an Antarctic marine copepod, Euchaeta antarctica. Polar Res 10:433–442. doi:10.1111/j.1751-8369.1991.tb00664.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the captain and crew of R/V Polarstern during expedition ANT XXIII-5 for their skilful support. Anna Schukat assisted in lipid extraction. We would also like to thank Dr. Peter Ward, Dr. Rolf Koppelmann and one unknown reviewer for their very detailed and constructive comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. The study was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG project AU 175/3).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Marine Zoology (FB 2), University of Bremen, P.O. Box 330 440, 28334, Bremen, Germany

    Silke Laakmann, Meike Stumpp & Holger Auel

Authors
  1. Silke Laakmann
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Meike Stumpp
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Holger Auel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Silke Laakmann.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Laakmann, S., Stumpp, M. & Auel, H. Vertical distribution and dietary preferences of deep-sea copepods (Euchaetidae and Aetideidae; Calanoida) in the vicinity of the Antarctic Polar Front. Polar Biol 32, 679–689 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-008-0573-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-008-0573-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation