Inter-Research > MEPS > v236 > p301-306  
MEPS
Marine Ecology Progress Series

via Mailchimp

MEPS 236:301-306 (2002)  -  doi:10.3354/meps236301

Egg hatching rate of the cyclopoid copepod Oithona similis in arctic and temperate waters

Torkel Gissel Nielsen1,*, Eva Friis Møller1, Suree Satapoomin2, Marc Ringuette3, Russell R. Hopcroft4

1National Environmental Research Institute, Department of Marine Ecology, Frederiksborgvej 399, PO Box 358, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark
2Phuket Marine Biological Center, PO Box 60, 83000 Phuket, Thailand
3GIROQ, Département de Biologie, Université Laval, Ste-Foy, Quebec G1L 7P4, Canada
4Institute of Marine Science, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska 99775, USA
*E-mail:

ABSTRACT: An equation is presented to facilitate estimation of the production of the cosmopolitan cyclopoid copepod Oithona similis. The egg hatching rate was studied from Arctic, subarctic and temperate waters covering a temperature interval from -1 to 20.5°C. Within this temperature range the hatching rate (HR) increased from 0.03 to 0.42 d-1. Results from all experiments were fitted to a function HR (% d-1) = 4.2176 + 1.7545T (r2 = 0.98; p < 0.0001), where T = temperature. When combined with site-specific information on temperature, egg:female ratios and the carbon content of females and eggs, secondary production of this ubiquitous species can be readily estimated.


KEY WORDS: Oithona similis · Egg hatching rate · Egg production · Arctic


Full text in pdf format
 Previous article Next article