Work

In situ grazing on plankton 10 µm by the boreal sponge Mycale lingua

Year: 1996

Type: article

Abstract: Ultraplankton, heterotrophic and autotrophic plankton c5 pm, are the most abundant food source in the world's oceans, yet their role as a food source for macroinvertebrates is largely unexamined.We quantified in situ feeding on heterotrophic and autotrophic plankton < l 0 pm by the boreal sponge Mycale l ~n g u a using measurements that quantified sponge feeding effic~enc~es, pumping rates, and abundance to determine the c o n t r ~b u t ~o n of plankton < l 0 pm to sponge carbon Intake.Using dualbeam flow cytometry we identified 5 populations of plankton c10 pm: heterotrophic bactena.Prochlorococcus, Synechococcus-type cyanobacteria, autotrophic eucaryotes <3 pm, and autotrophic eucaryotes 3 to 10 pm.Mycale lingua nonselectively grazed on all types of plankton < l 0 pm.Prochlorococcus was filtered with the highest efficiency (93%), followed by Synechococcus-type cyanobacteria (89%), autotrophic eucaryotes 3 to 10 I.lm (86":,), heterotrophic bacteria (74 %), and autotrophic eucaryotes c 3 pm (72%).We conservatively estimate that M. linqua at naturally occurring denslties can obtain 29 mg C d-' m-' feeding on plankton c10 pm, w ~t h 74% resulting from ultraplankton, suggestlng that ultraplankton are an important overlooked component of benthic-pelag~c coupling.

Source: Marine Ecology Progress Series

DOI: 10.3354/meps141095

Authors: AJ Pile, MR Patterson, JD Witman

Institutions: Brown University, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, William & Mary, Virginia Institute of Marine Science

Language: English

Topic: Marine Sponges and Natural Products

Subfield: Biotechnology

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Life below water

Open Access status: bronze

Funders: National Science Foundation, University of Hawai'i