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Marine Ecology Progress Series

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MEPS 447:109-126 (2012)  -  DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps09421

Effects of temperature and food availability on feeding and egg production of Calanus hyperboreus from Disko Bay, western Greenland

Marie Vestergaard Henriksen1, Signe Jung-Madsen1, Torkel Gissel Nielsen2,3,*, Eva Friis Møller1, Karen Vestergaard Henriksen1, Stiig Markager1, Benni Winding Hansen

1Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Frederiksborgvej 399, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark
2National Institute of Aquatic Resources, DTU Aqua, Section for Ocean Ecology and Climate, Technical University of Denmark, Kavalergården 6, 2920 Charlottenlund, Denmark
3Greenland Climate Research Centre, Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, PO Box 570, 3900 Nuuk, Greenland
4Department of Environmental, Social and Spatial Change, Roskilde University, Roskilde, Denmark
*Corresponding author. Email:

ABSTRACT: The effects of temperature and food availability on feeding and egg production of the Arctic copepod Calanus hyperboreus were investigated in Disko Bay, western Greenland, from winter to spring 2009. The abundance of females in the near bottom layer and the egg production of C. hyperboreus prior to the spring bloom document that reproduction relies on lipid stores. The maximum in situ egg production (± SE) of 54 ± 8 eggs female−1 d−1 was recorded in mid-February at chlorophyll a concentrations below 0.1 µg l−1, whereas no egg production was observed in mid-April when the spring bloom developed. After reproduction, the females migrated to the surface layer to exploit the bloom and refill their lipid stores. In 2 laboratory experiments, initiated before and during the spring bloom, mature females were kept with and without food at 5 different temperatures ranging from 0 to 10°C and the fecal pellet and egg production were monitored. Food had a clear effect on fecal pellet production but no effect on egg production, while temperature did not have an effect on egg or fecal pellet production in any of the experiments. Analyses of carbon and lipid content of the females before and after the experiments did not reflect any effect of food or temperature in the pre-bloom experiment, whereas in the bloom experiment a clear positive effect of food was detected in female biochemical profiles. The lack of a temperature response suggests a future warmer ocean could be unfavorable for C. hyperboreus compared to smaller Calanus spp. which are reported to exploit minor temperature elevations for increased egg ­production.


KEY WORDS: Calanus hyperboreus · Egg production · Fecal pellet production · Effect of temperature


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Cite this article as: Henriksen MV, Jung-Madsen S, Nielsen TG, Møller EF, Henriksen KV, Markager S, Hansen BW (2012) Effects of temperature and food availability on feeding and egg production of Calanus hyperboreus from Disko Bay, western Greenland. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 447:109-126. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps09421

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