Algal Diet of Small-Bodied Crustacean Zooplankton in a Cyanobacteria-Dominated Eutrophic Lake.

ABSTRACT: Small-bodied cladocerans and cyclopoid copepods are becoming increasingly dominant over large crustacean zooplankton in eutrophic waters where they often coexist with cyanobacterial blooms. However, relatively little is known about their algal diet preferences. We studied grazing selectivity of small crustaceans (the cyclopoid copepods Mesocyclops leuckarti, Thermocyclops oithonoides, Cyclops kolensis, and the cladocerans Daphnia cucullata, Chydorus sphaericus, Bosmina spp.) by liquid chromatographic analyses of phytoplankton marker pigments in the shallow, highly eutrophic Lake Võrtsjärv (Estonia) during a seasonal cycle. Copepods (mainly C. kolensis) preferably consumed cryptophytes (identified by the marker pigment alloxanthin in gut contents) during colder periods, while they preferred

SUBMITTER: Tonno I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4849668 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature