We studied the effects of attached peritrich ciliates on the fitness of natural populations of Acartia hudsonica (Pinhey) in Stony Brook Harbor, Long Island Sound. Ciliate infection occurred during late spring, and ciliate load (No. ind.-‘) was not related to copepod age, stage, or body size. Simulated in situ experiments conducted throughout the period of abundance of A. hudsonica showed that ...

The composition of the mesozooplanktonic community was studied in the Punta Morales estuary, Gulf of Nicoya, Pacific coast of Costa Rica, during 1997. Oblique plankton hauls were performed during high and low tide using a 280 microm mesh screen net equipped with a flowmeter. The community was characterized by holoplanktonic and meroplanktonic organisms. For the holoplanktonic community, the mai...

The copepod Acartia tonsa exhibits 2 different feeding modes: when feeding on small phytoplankton cells it sets up a feeding current and acts as a suspension feeder; when feeding on motile prey it acts as an ambush feeder. We examined experimentally the effects of small-scale turbulence on feeding rates in these 2 modes. The different feeding behaviours were triggered by offering the copepods d...