Extensive cross-disciplinary analysis of biological and chemical control of Calanus finmarchicus reproduction during an aldehyde forming diatom bloom in mesocosms

Egg and faecal pellet production and egg hatching success of the calanoid copepod Calanus finmarchicus were monitored over a period of 14 days (14-28 April, 2008) while fed water from 4 differently treated mesocosms and ambient water. Two of the mesocosms used were inoculated with the polyunsaturated aldehyde (PUA)-producing diatom Skeletonema marinoi, while 2 received only nutrient additions with or without silica.

The mesocosms developed blooms of S. marinoi, mixed diatoms or the haptophyte Phaeocystis pouchetii, respectively. Faecal pellet production of C. finmarchicus increased with increasing food availability. Egg production increased with time in all mesocosms to a maximum single female production of 232 eggs female-1 day-1 (average of 90 eggs female-1 day-1) and followed the development of ciliates and P. pouchetii, but was not affected by the observed high (up to 15 nmol L-1) PUA production potential of the phytoplankton.

The hatching success of the eggs produced on the mesocosm diets was high (78-96%) and was not affected by either aldehydes in the maternal diet or exposure to the dissolved aldehydes in the water