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Feeding rates and productivity of the copepod Acartia bifilosa in a highly turbid estuary; the Gironde (SW France)

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Abstract

Acartia spp. are the dominant copepod species in the Gironde estuary, seaward of the turbidity maximum area. Acartia bifilosa develop a large population in spring and early summer whereas Acartia tonsa appear in late summer. High values and high variability of chlorophyll a/suspended particulate matter ratio are found seaward of the turbidity maximum area. Feeding rates of A. bifilosa were measured by fluorometry. Phytoplankton ingestion was found to be highly variable, between 8 to 80% of copepod carbon body weight. Except for adult females, copepods were heavier in summer than in winter. PB ratios, estimated by the instantaneous growth rate method, varied from 0.03 d−1 to 0.14 d−1. The gut contents and P/B ratios of Acartia bifilosa were related to chl a/SPM ratio. From those data, and a few obtained for A. tonsa, it is concluded that only in summer months phytoplankton ingestion is enough to maintain secondary production.

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  1. Xabier Irigoien

    Present address: Instituto de ciencias del Mar, P. Joan de Borbó s/n, 08039, Barcelona, Spain

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  1. Laboratoire d'Océanographie Biologique, Université de Bordeaux I, F-33120, Arcachon, France

    Xabier Irigoien & Jacques Castel

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  1. Xabier Irigoien
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  2. Jacques Castel
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Irigoien, X., Castel, J. Feeding rates and productivity of the copepod Acartia bifilosa in a highly turbid estuary; the Gironde (SW France). Hydrobiologia 311, 115–125 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00008575

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