Feeding and reproduction ecology of the copepod Paracalanus parvus s.l. in southeastern coast of Korea

Abstract

We studied the feeding and egg production rates of the planktonic copepod Paracalanus parvus s.l., one of the dominant copepod species, with the seasonal abundance data, to better understand the population dynamics of the copepod in the coastal water of Korea. The copepod was collected monthly from January to December 2012 and their feeding and egg production rate were measured in situ at a fixed station near Tong-yeong, southeastern coast of Korea. Egg production rate ranged from 4.9~25.4 eggs female-1 day-1 (mean 8.5 eggs female-1 day-1) with higher values in summer than in winter. The egg hatching success was high with over 70% throughout the year. The copepod feeding rate ranged from 34.5~393.6 ngC female-1 day-1 (mean 139.5 ngC female-1 day-1) for phytoplankton and 277.3~3571.5 ngC female-1 day-1 (mean 1270.0 ngC female-1 day-1) for protozoan diet. The copepod abandance ranged from 72.9~1003.2 ind. m-3 with two peaks in abundance, implying that different population of P. parvus s.l. may occur in the study region depending on the season.stal water of Korea. The copepod was collected monthly from January to December 2012 and their feeding and egg production rate were measured in situ at a fixed station near Tong-yeong, southeastern coast of Korea. Egg production rate ranged from 4.9~25.4 eggs female-1 day-1 (mean 8.5 eggs female-1 day-1) with higher values in summer than in winter. The egg hatching success was high with over 70% throughout the year. The copepod feeding rate ranged from 34.5~393.6 ngC female-1 day-1 (mean 139.5 ngC female-1 day-1) for phytoplankton and 277.3~3571.5 ngC female-1 day-1 (mean 1270.0 ngC female-1 day-1) for protozoan diet. The copepod abandance ranged from 72.9~1003.2 ind. m-3 with two peaks in abundance, implying that different population of P. parvus s.l. may occur in the study region depending on the season.