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AME 38:249-257 (2005)
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Abstract
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Feeding by the mixotrophic red-tide dinoflagellate Gonyaulax polygramma: mechanisms, prey species, effects of prey concentration, and grazing impact
Hae Jin Jeong1,*, Yeong Du Yoo2, Kyeong Ah Seong3, Jong Hyeok Kim4, Jae Yeon Park1, Sanghee Kim5, Seung Hyeon Lee1, Jeong Hyun Ha1, Won Ho Yih4
1School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-747, Korea 2Saemankeum Environmental Research Center, Kunsan National University, Kunsan 573-701,
Korea 3MarineBio Co., Myrongdong San 68, Kunsan 573-701, Korea 4Department of Oceanography, College of Ocean Science and Technology, Kunsan National University, Kunsan 573-701, Korea 5School of Biological Science,
College of Natural Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-747, Korea
*Email: hjjeong@snu.ac.kr
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ABSTRACT: The red-tide dinoflagellate Gonyaulax polygramma (GenBank accession number = AJ833631), previously known as an exclusively autotrophic dinoflagellate, has been found to be a mixotrophic species. We investigated feeding mechanisms, types
of prey species, and the effects of prey concentration on the growth and ingestion rates of G. polygramma when feeding on an unidentified cryptophyte species (equivalent spherical diameter, ESD = 5.6 µm). We also calculated grazing
coefficients by combining field data on abundances of G. polygramma and co-occurring cryptophytes with laboratory data on ingestion rates obtained in the present study. Among the phytoplankton prey offered, G. polygramma ingested small
phytoplankton species with ESD ≤ 17 µm, but did not feed on large phytoplankton species with ESD > 22 µm. G. polygramma fed on prey cells by engulfing them through the apical horn, a previously unknown mechanism, as well as
through the sulcus. The feeding mechanism of G. polygramma on phytoplankton mainly depended on the prey species. Specific growth rates of G. polygramma on a cryptophyte increased with increasing mean prey concentration, with saturation
occurring at a mean prey concentration of approximately 600 ng C ml1. The maximum specific (mixotrophic) growth rate of G. polygramma on a cryptophyte was 0.278 d1, under a 14:10 h light:dark cycle of 50 µE
m2 s1, while its (phototrophic) growth rate under the same light conditions without added prey was 0.186 d1. Its maximum ingestion and clearance rates were 0.18 ng C grazer1
d1 (10.6 cells grazer1 d1) and 0.18 µl grazer1 h1, respectively. The grazing coefficients of G. polygramma on cryptophytes were up to 0.479
h1. The results of the present study suggest that G. polygramma can have a considerable grazing impact on cryptophyte populations.
KEY WORDS: Feeding process · Harmful algal bloom · Ingestion · Marine · Protist · Red tide
Full text in pdf format
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Published in AME Vol.
38, No. 3
(2005) on March 18
Print ISSN: 0948-3055; Online ISSN: 1616-1564.
Copyright © Inter-Research, Oldendorf/Luhe, 2005
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