Ingestion on Planktonic Ciliates by Copepod Acartia hongi: A Laboratory Study

Acartia hongi is the most dominant and widespread planktonic copepod in Gyeonggi Bay, Yellow sea. Ingestion rates and selectivity of A. hongi on phytoplankton and planktonic ciliates were determined in the laboratory. Ingestion rates of A. hongi on planktonic ciliates and phytoplankton increased in proportion to prey concentration increase. When A. hongi was fed with various mixture combinations of planktonic ciliates and phytoplankton, their ingestion rate on ciliates tended to increase as the percentage of ciliates in prey biomass increased. Clearance rate of A. hongi on planktonic ciliates was higher than for phytoplankton in all experiments without regard to relative percent of ciliate biomass. This trend suggests that A. hongi was preferentially preying on planktonic ciliates. Under mixed prey availability, it is likely that selective feeding and higher clearance rate of planktonic ciliates by A. hongi is related to the higher nutritional value of ciliates compared to phytoplankton. Therefore, our results suggest that selective ciliate feeding by A. hongi will positively benefit its growth and abundance, and as a result negatively impact the population dynamics of planktonic ciliates in Gyeonggi Bay.