Zooplankton Feeding Ecology: Contents of Fecal Pellets of the Copepod Anomalocera ornata from Continental Shelf and Slope Waters of the Gulf of Mexico |
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| Authors: | Jefferson T Turner |
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| Institution: | National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, Southeast Fisheries Center, Beaufort Laboratory, Beaufort, North Carolina 28516, U.S.A. |
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| Abstract: | Abstract. The diet of the copepod Anomalocera ornata was examined by comparing contents of fecal pellets produced on natural diets with assemblages of available phytoplankton. Samples were collected in continental shelf and slope waters of the northern Gulf of Mexico. A wide size and taxonomic array of phytoplankters was ingested, and remains of phytoplankton taxa in fecal pellets reflected the composition of phytoplankton assemblages in the water. Absence of crustacean remains in fecal pellets suggests that A. ornata feeds primarily as an opportunistic grazer. |
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| Keywords: | Zooplankton Copepoda Anomalocera ornata feeding fecal pellets SEM Ultra-Ecology Gulf of Mexico |
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