Zooplankton Feeding on the Nuisance Flagellate Gonyostomum semen
(2013) In PLoS ONE 8(5).- Abstract
- The large bloom-forming flagellate Gonyostomum semen has been hypothesized to be inedible to naturally occurring zooplankton due to its large cell size and ejection of long slimy threads (trichocysts) induced by physical stimulation. In a grazing experiment using radiolabelled algae and zooplankton collected from lakes with recurring blooms of G. semen and lakes that rarely experience blooms, we found that Eudiaptomus gracilis and Holopedium gibberum fed on G. semen at high rates, whereas Daphnia cristata and Ceriodaphnia spp. did not. Grazing rates of E. gracilis were similar between bloom-lakes and lakes with low biomass of G. semen, indicating that the ability to feed on G. semen was not a result of local adaptation. The high grazing... (More)
- The large bloom-forming flagellate Gonyostomum semen has been hypothesized to be inedible to naturally occurring zooplankton due to its large cell size and ejection of long slimy threads (trichocysts) induced by physical stimulation. In a grazing experiment using radiolabelled algae and zooplankton collected from lakes with recurring blooms of G. semen and lakes that rarely experience blooms, we found that Eudiaptomus gracilis and Holopedium gibberum fed on G. semen at high rates, whereas Daphnia cristata and Ceriodaphnia spp. did not. Grazing rates of E. gracilis were similar between bloom-lakes and lakes with low biomass of G. semen, indicating that the ability to feed on G. semen was not a result of local adaptation. The high grazing rates of two of the taxa in our experiment imply that some of the nutrients and energy taken up by G. semen can be transferred directly to higher trophic levels, although the predominance of small cladocerans during blooms may limit the importance of G. semen as a food resource. Based on grazing rates and previous observations on abundances of E. gracilis and H. gibberum, we conclude that there is a potential for grazer control of G. semen and discuss why blooms of G. semen still occur. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/3927376
- author
- Johansson, Karin S. L. ; Vrede, Tobias ; Lebret, Karen LU and Johnson, Richard K.
- organization
- publishing date
- 2013
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- in
- PLoS ONE
- volume
- 8
- issue
- 5
- article number
- e62557
- publisher
- Public Library of Science (PLoS)
- external identifiers
-
- wos:000319654700047
- scopus:84877138812
- pmid:23667489
- ISSN
- 1932-6203
- DOI
- 10.1371/journal.pone.0062557
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- ca5bf67d-fc76-4f8e-8c9f-89bcc80bf09f (old id 3927376)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 14:47:41
- date last changed
- 2022-02-27 04:30:06
@article{ca5bf67d-fc76-4f8e-8c9f-89bcc80bf09f, abstract = {{The large bloom-forming flagellate Gonyostomum semen has been hypothesized to be inedible to naturally occurring zooplankton due to its large cell size and ejection of long slimy threads (trichocysts) induced by physical stimulation. In a grazing experiment using radiolabelled algae and zooplankton collected from lakes with recurring blooms of G. semen and lakes that rarely experience blooms, we found that Eudiaptomus gracilis and Holopedium gibberum fed on G. semen at high rates, whereas Daphnia cristata and Ceriodaphnia spp. did not. Grazing rates of E. gracilis were similar between bloom-lakes and lakes with low biomass of G. semen, indicating that the ability to feed on G. semen was not a result of local adaptation. The high grazing rates of two of the taxa in our experiment imply that some of the nutrients and energy taken up by G. semen can be transferred directly to higher trophic levels, although the predominance of small cladocerans during blooms may limit the importance of G. semen as a food resource. Based on grazing rates and previous observations on abundances of E. gracilis and H. gibberum, we conclude that there is a potential for grazer control of G. semen and discuss why blooms of G. semen still occur.}}, author = {{Johansson, Karin S. L. and Vrede, Tobias and Lebret, Karen and Johnson, Richard K.}}, issn = {{1932-6203}}, language = {{eng}}, number = {{5}}, publisher = {{Public Library of Science (PLoS)}}, series = {{PLoS ONE}}, title = {{Zooplankton Feeding on the Nuisance Flagellate Gonyostomum semen}}, url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0062557}}, doi = {{10.1371/journal.pone.0062557}}, volume = {{8}}, year = {{2013}}, }