NANOPLANKTON FOUND IN FECAL PELLETS OF MACROZOOPLANKTON IN COASTAL NEWFOUNDLAND WATERS

Fecal pellets produced by the copepod Calanus finmarchicus and the tun icate Oikopleura vanhoeffeni in coastal Newfoundland waters were exami ned throughout the year using scanning electron microscopy and found t o contain numerous species of nanoplankton (i. e. cells 2 - 20 mum in diameter). Annually nanoplankters composed 20 - 70% of the identifiabl e species in both the copepod and tunicate feces, except during the sp ring diatom bloom. The diatoms, choanoflagellates, euglenoids, chrysop hytes, coccolithophorids and cyanobacteria identified, illustrate that nanoplankters are ingested by macrozooplankters and thus may contribu te more significantly to the particulate flux than previously thought. The abundance of coccolithophorids and diatom and chrysophyte resting spores suggests that fecal pellets may also be a good avenue for calc ite flux and a vector for transporting resting spores to the benthos f or later reseeding. Using fecal pellet contents, we present the first reports of the chrysophytes, Tetraparma sp. and Triparma strigata in t he North Atlantic.