Combination of sac- and broadcast-spawning in an Arctic fjord to achieve high abundance at low temperatures.
A study recently published by Associate Professor Marja Koski, DTU Aqua and fellow researchers in Journal of Plankton Research looks at how a slowly growing species like the pelagic harpacticoid Microsetella norvegica can achieve high abundances at low temperatures.
In order to find the answer, different life-history stages of the pelagic harpacticoid were sampled in a Greenland fjord from March to August 2010.
The team expected low but continuous reproduction coupled with a low mortality, but observed the opposite: a short reproductive period with high estimated weight-specific egg production and egg mortality, and indication of a life-history strategy combining the advantages of egg carrying with egg production rates independent of temperature.
For the full article see Journal of Plankton Research:
J. Plankton Res. (2013) doi: 10.1093/plankt/fbt117
First published online: November 28, 2013
The work was supported by grants from the Greenland Climate Research Centre and funding from European Commission FP7 EURO-BASIN.