Stomach content analysis of dominant copepod species from the Great Meteor Seamount in the Northeast Atlantic. ICES CM2002

No abstracts are to be cited without prior reference to the author.

The aim of this project was to study the effect of the Great Meteor Seamount on the feeding of dominant calanoid copepod species. The stomach contents of dominant female copepoda were analysed on one plateau station and on one oceanic station. These were Clausocalanus furcatus, C. paululus, Mecynocera clausi, Mesocalanus tenuicornis, Paracalanus denudatus, P. nanus and Parvocalanus crassirostris. All species, except Paracalanus nanus, showed a higher feeding activity at the plateau station. In every case the degree of gut fullness was higher on the plateau than in the surrounding ocean. No identifiable food was found in the stomachs of Clausocalanus furcatus, C. paululus and Mecynocera clausi from the oceanic station. In Paracalanus denudatus and Paracalanus nanus no identifiable food was recognized at both stations. M. tenuicornis showed maximum diversity in diet composition, highest in the adjacent water of the seamount. Feeding activity and the diet composition seemed to be influenced by the Great Meteor Seamount.