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MEPS
Marine Ecology Progress Series

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MEPS 334:193-198 (2007)  -  doi:10.3354/meps334193

Copepod escape behavior in non-turbulent and turbulent hydrodynamic regimes

Rebecca J. Waggett1,2,*, Edward J. Buskey1

1The University of Texas at Austin, Marine Science Institute, 750 Channel View Drive, Port Aransas, Texas 78373-1267, USA
2Present address: NOS, NOAA, 101 Pivers Island Road, Beaufort, North Carolina 28516-9722, USA

ABSTRACT: Copepods respond to velocity gradients in the ambient fluid generated by the movement of nearby predators. Escape behavior of several species in response to hydrodynamic stimuli has been analyzed under non-turbulent conditions; however, copepods normally experience a flowing or turbulent environment. Two neritic species (Paracalanus parvus and Temora turbinata) were exposed to a siphon-generated flow field under both non-turbulent and turbulent conditions. Deformation rates of 6.16 and 3.93 s–1 were required to elicit escape behavior in P. parvus and T. turbinata, respectively. Copepod jump distances in response to the siphon-generated flow field were >6.8 mm and were not significantly different under non-turbulent and turbulent conditions.


KEY WORDS: Copepod · Escape reaction · Flow-field · Hydrodynamic stimuli · Turbulence


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