Feeding ecology of Limnocalanus macrurus in the Laurentian Great Lakes

Abstract

The zooplankton communities of several Laurentian Great Lakes have shifted toward greater biomass of calanoid copepods, particularly Limnocalanus macrurus, since the 1990s. Limnocalanus is an omnivore that feeds on large phytoplankton cells, ciliates, rotifers, and small crustacean zooplankton, especially copepod nauplii, and it may be an increasingly important zooplanktivore in these systems. Although there is previous research examining Limnocalanus predation rates on nauplii, we do not know if the presence of phytoplankton affects predation rates. Our initial experiments confirmed Limnocalanus preference for nauplii over small copepodites. Additional experiments showed that Limnocalanus feeding rates on nauplii decreased by 50% at the highest phytoplankton concentrations tested. Limnocalanus fed more on the larger algae tested (Cryptomonas, Cryptophyta, 40 µm) than on the smaller taxa (Scenedesmus, Chlorophyta, 10 µm). We used stable isotope analysis to infer Limnocalanus trophic position in the five Laurentian Great Lakes by comparing Limnocalanus with simultaneously captured Leptodiaptomus sicilis, another calanoid copepod known to feed on phytoplankton and microzooplankton. This analysis showed Limnocalanus at higher trophic positions in the more oligotrophic lakes Huron, Michigan, and Superior than in lakes Ontario and Erie. Summer Limnocalanus trophic position was inversely related to both the site-specific concentration of algae in the deep chlorophyll layer and a trophic state index based on spring chlorophyll and total phosphorus. Our results indicate that predation by Limnocalanus on zooplankton depends on lake algal abundance, and that feeding rates on nauplii by an individual Limnocalanus adult are likely higher in the more oligotrophic lakes.