Prey capture modes in calanoid copepods

R. J. GONÇALVES

Søminestationen at Holbæk Kommun

Encuentro; Annual meeting of the Center of Ocean Life; 2013

Center of Ocean Life; Tecnhical University of Denmark; Roskilde University, Copenhagen University

I use a combination of experimental approaches to study the feeding behavior or a copepod (Temora longicornis) and its relation with the prey size. My aim is to understand the mechanistic underpinning for the feeding process to provide input to trait-based models. Understanding how zooplankton feed can be a challenging task, especially because it is difficult to observe with traditional methods. Some copepods for example move their mouthparts faster than any regular video camera can resolve. Therefore we use a high-speed camera to observe the very precise moment when the copepod detect, capture and ingest their prey. We combine this with bottle incubations and particle image velocimetry (PIV) to gain a better insight of the feeding behavior related to prey/predator size relationships.