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Vol. 49 No. 2, 2010
Behavioral Interactions of the Copepod Temora turbinata with Potential
Ciliate Prey
Cheng-Han
Wu1, Hans-Uwe Dahms2, Edward J. Buskey3,
J. Rudi Strickler4, and Jiang-Shiou Hwang1,*
1Institute
of Marine Biology, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung 202,
Taiwan
2Green Life Science Department, College of Natural
Science, Sangmyung University, 7 Hongij-dong, Jongno-gu, SEOUL 110-743,
South Korea
3University of Texas at Austin, Marine Science
Institute, Port Aransas, TX 78373, USA
4University of Wisconsin, Great Lakes WATER Institute,
Milwaukee, WI 53204, USA
Cheng-Han
Wu, Hans-Uwe Dahms, Edward J. Buskey, J. Rudi Strickler, and
Jiang-Shiou Hwang (2010) Behavioral interactions
between the calanoid copepod Temora
turbinata and the ciliates Strobilidium
sp. and an undetermined species of spinning ciliate were
video-documented and analyzed. Videotaped Temora-ciliate encounters were
image-analyzed to calculate ciliate swimming trajectories, T. turbinata attack kinematics, and
reaction distances to the ciliates. Wide variances were found in
the measured reaction distances. The spinning ciliate was able to
sense a copepod from a longer distance and escaped from the feeding
current with a faster response than did Strobilidium sp. Our
observations suggest that spinning and other evasive behaviors such as
jumping are predator-deterrent strategies of ciliates. The
copepod could differentiate between living and non-living organisms and
ejected non-ingestible particles. Incorporating species-specific
interactions from behavioral studies will improve future food web
models.
Key words: Copepod, Ciliate, Behavior,
Swimming, Predator/prey interaction.
*Correspondence: Tel: 886-935289642. Fax:
886-2-24629464. E-mail:jshwang@mail.ntou.edu.tw
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