Traditionally, diatoms have been associated with productive pelagic fo
od chains that lead, through suspension-feeding planktonic copepods, t
o top consumers and important fisheries. Here, 15 laboratories located
worldwide in 12 different countries and representing a variety of mar
ine, estuarine and freshwater environments present strong evidence tha
t diatom diets are in fact inferior for copepod reproduction. When fed
to females of 16 copepod species, all but 1 of the 17 diatoms examine
d significantly reduced egg production rates or egg viability compared
to non-diatom controls. These effects are hypothesized to influence c
opepod recruitment patterns and the flow of energy in marine food webs
.