Greene, C.H. & M.R. Landry. (1985). Patterns of prey selection in the cruising calanoid predator Euchaeta elongata. Ecology, Brooklyn 66(5):1408-1416, figs. 1-6, tabs. 1-2, appendix. (x-1985)

89748

Greene, C.H. & M.R. Landry

1985

66(5):1408-1416, figs. 1-6, tabs. 1-2, appendix. (x-1985)

Publication

Available in Wilson Copepod Library (non-digital)

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The invertebrate predators of marine and freshwater plankton assemblag employ encountertactics thatenable investigators to characterizethem as eitherambushers or cruisers. In this study, we examine the implications of cruising tactics on the prey selection patterns exhibited by the marine calanoid copepod Euchaeta elongata. Patterns and mechanisms of prey selection exhibited by Euchaeta were investigated in the laboratory with predationexperiments and videotaped observations of predator and prey swimming behavior. Prey types offeredto Euchaeta includedeach of the developmentalstages of Calanus pacificus and the adults of Pseudocalanus sp. Calanus' vulnerability to Euchaeta predation steadily increased through the naupliar stages, reached a peak in the early copepodid stages, and declined rapidly after the molt to the fourth copepodite. Pseudocalanus adults were as vulnerableto Euchaeta predation as the early copepodites of Calanus. The behavioral mechanisms underlying the observed patterns of prey selection are discussed and compared with the resultsfrom other investigations of selective planktivoryby marinecalanoid copepods. It is concluded that prey selection by Euchaeta is largely determined by differences in preyvulnerability; some evidence for active behavioralchoice was observed, however. Key words: copepods;cruising predator; selective predation;zooplankton.

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