Planktonic predators and copepod abundance near the Dutch coast

Hypotheses that planktonic predators are responsible for the spring-summer decrease in copepod abundance and that the dominant predator, Pleurobrachia pileus , is associated with high concentrations of copepods were investigated at a station near the Dutch coast. Neither hypothesis was supported. Predators and copepods were sampled together with a 156 L ‘water box’ from late April through early July, including the season of P.pileus abundance. Using predators and copepods from the same box samples, hence from the same water parcel, feeding rates on copepod nauplii and copepodites + adults were... Mehr ...