Consumption and Growth Rates of Chaetognaths and Copepods in Subtropical Oceanic Waters

Abstract

The natural rates of food consumption and growth were calculated for the chaetognath Pterosagitta draco and the copepod Scolecithrix danae in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii. The chaetognath's consumption rate was calculated using the observed frequency of food items in the stomachs of large specimens from summer samples and the digestion times from previous publications. The natural consumption rate averaged only one copepod per 24 hr, or about 2 percent of the chaetognath's nitrogen weight per 24 hr. The growth rates of both P. draco and S. danae were calculated with the temporal patterns of variations in the size compositions of the spring populations. The natural growth rates averaged only 2 and 4 percent of the body nitrogen per 24 hr for, respectively, small P. draco and the copepodids of S. danae. These natural rates were low in comparison with published laboratory measurements of radiocarbon accumulation, nitrogen excretion, and oxygen respiration of subtropical oceanic zooplankton.