Metabolic activity of pelagic copepods from 5,000 to 7,000 m depth of the western subarctic Pacific, as inferred from electron transfer system (ETS) activity

Abstract

This study demonstrates reduced electron transfer system (ETS) activity of mixed copepods collected from 5,000 to 7,000 m depths [3.21 ± 1.25 μl O2 (mg protein)−1 h−1 at 10°C] as compared with mixed copepods from 0 to 200 m depths [5.93 ± 1.66 μl O2 (mg protein)−1 h−1 at 10°C] of the western subarctic Pacific. At the in situ temperature of 1.5°C, the 5,000–7,000 m ETS data, in terms of wet mass (WM)-specific respiration rates (R), is equivalent to [0.052 ± 0.021 μl O2 (mg WM)−1 h−1] which is similar to or greater than those reported for selected copepods or mixed mesozooplankton from <5,000 m depth by previous workers.