Stéphane Plourde

Copepod production drives recruitment in a marine fish

Predicting fluctuations in recruitment of commercial marine fish remains the Holy Grail of fisheries science. In previous studies, we identified statistical relationships linking Atlantic mackerel ...

Fecundity characteristics of Calanus finmarchicus in coastal waters of eastern Canada

Abstract Results of an earlier study of fecundity characteristics of the copepod Calanus finmarchicus from the shelf off Nova Scotia are combined with more recent observations from the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence, where female Calanus are considerably larger. Maximum egg production rates of Lower Estuary females in laboratory experiments were consistent with predictions based on the previously-derived relationship between maximum egg production rates and temperature, in which a culture of Thalassiosira weissflogii was used as the food source. Clutch sizes varied considerably and were significantly related to body size. Within a given body size, clutch sizes were observed to differ by up to a factor of two, possibly associated with differences in food availability or female age. Clutch size of Calanus finmarchicus may represent the interaction between the egg production rate that can be supported by the contemporaneous food conditions and the constraint imposed by the diel spawning cycle. Measurement ...

Differential dormancy of co-occurring copepods

Abstract Four species of planktonic calanoid copepods that co-occur in the California Current System ( Eucalanus californicus Johnson, Rhincalanus nasutus Giesbrecht, Calanus pacificus californicus Brodsky, and Metridia pacifica Brodsky) were investigated for evidence of seasonal dormancy in the San Diego Trough. Indices used to differentiate actively growing from dormant animals included developmental stage structure and vertical distribution; activity of aerobic metabolic enzymes (Citrate Synthase and the Electron Transfer System complex); investment in depot lipids (wax esters and triacylglycerols); in situ grazing activity from gut fluorescence; and egg production rates in simulated in situ conditions. None of the 4 species exhibited a canonical calanoid pattern of winter dormancy – i.e., synchronous developmental arrest as copepodid stage V, descent into deep waters, reduced metabolism, and lack of winter reproduction. Instead, Calanus pacificus californicus has a biphasic life history in this region, with an actively reproducing segment of the population in surface waters overlying a deep dormant segment in winter. Eucalanus californicus is dormant as both adult females and copepodid V’s, although winter females respond relatively rapidly to elevated food and temperature conditions; they begin feeding and producing eggs within 2–3 days. Rhincalanus nasutus appears to enter dormancy as adult females, although the evidence is equivocal. Metridia pacifica shows no evidence of dormancy, with sustained active feeding, diel vertical migration behavior, and elevated activity of metabolic enzymes in December as well as in June. The four species also differ markedly in water content, classes of storage lipids, and specific activity of Citrate Synthase. These results suggest that copepod dormancy traits and structural composition reflect diverse adaptations to regional environmental conditions rather than a uniform, canonical series of traits that remain invariant among taxa and fixed across a species’ range. Such interspecific and regional differences in life history traits need to be incorporated in models simulating Eastern Boundary Current pelagic ecosystem dynamics.

Potential for Local Fertilization : A Benthocosm Test of Long-Term and Short-Term Effects of Mussel Excretion on the Plankton

Mussel aquaculture has expanded worldwide and it is important to assess its impact on the water column and the planktonic food web to determine the sustainability of farming practices. Mussel farming may affect the planktonic food web indirectly by excreting bioavailable nutrients in the water column (a short-term effect) or by increasing nutrient effluxes from biodeposit-enriched sediments (a long-term effect). We tested both of these indirect effects in a lagoon by using plankton-enclosing benthocosms that were placed on the bottom of a shallow lagoon either inside of a mussel farm or at reference sites with no history of aquaculture. At each site, half of the benthocosms were enriched with seawater that had held mussels (excretion treatment), the other half received non-enriched seawater as a control treatment. We monitored nutrients ([PO43-] and [NH4+]), dissolved oxygen and plankton components (bacteria, the phytoplankton and the zooplankton) over 5 days. We found a significant relationship between long-term accumulation of mussel biodeposits in sediments, water-column nutrient concentrations and plankton growth. Effects of mussel excretion were not detected, too weak to be significant given the spatial and temporal variability observed in the lagoon. Effects of mussels on the water column are thus likely to be coupled to benthic processes in such semi-enclosed water bodies.

Impacts of Intraguild Predation on Arctic Copepod Communities

Communities of large copepods form an essential hub of matter and energy fluxes in Arctic marine food webs. Intraguild predation on eggs and early larval stages occurs among the different species of those communities and it has been hypothesized to impact its structure and function. In order to better understand the interactions between dominant copepod species in the Arctic, we conducted laboratory experiments that quantified intraguild predation between the conspicuous and omnivorous Metridia longa and the dominant Calanus hyperboreus. We recorded individual egg ingestion rates for several conditions of temperature, egg concentration and alternative food presence. In each of these experiments, at least some females ingested eggs but individual ingestion rates were highly variable. The global mean ingestion rate of M. longa on C. hyperboreus eggs was 5.8 eggs ind-1 d-1, or an estimated 37% of M. longa daily metabolic need. Among the different factors tested and the various individual traits considered (prosome length, condition index), only the egg concentration had a significant and positive effect on ingestion rates. We further explored the potential ecological impacts of intraguild predation in a simple 1D numerical model of C. hyperboreus eggs vertical distribution in the Amundsen Gulf. Our modelling results showed an asymmetric relationship in that M. longa has little potential impact on the recruitment of C. hyperboreus (< 3% egg standing stock removed by IGP at most) whereas the eggs intercepted by the former can account for a significant portion of its metabolic requirement during winter (up to a third).