Abstract
In this study, we aim at disentangling the causes and consequences of diel feeding rhythms in marine microzooplankton. We focused on the diel feeding activity of two heterotrophic dinoflagellate species, Gyrodinium dominans (one laboratory strain) and Oxyrrhis marina (laboratory cultivated and wild strains). We observed higher ingestion during the day in both dinoflagellate species. Feeding rhythms appeared to be independent of circadian changes in prey biochemical composition. Grazers fed with prey under stationary phase, with equivalent stoichiometric composition between day and night, showed 5 (G. dominans) and 10 (O. marina) times higher ingestion rates during the day. Previous grazer feeding history (starved vs well-fed) did not affect the feeding rhythm. However, prey concentration altered the rhythm; food limiting conditions reduced the amplitude of the rhythms. Our results establish a resource dependence of diel periodicity in microzooplankton grazing, which can have unanticipated consequences for standard field dilution grazing experiments.
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