M. Viitasalo et al., Zooplanktivory in the Baltic Sea: a comparison of prey selectivity by Clupea harengus and Mysis mixta, with reference to prey escape reactions, MAR ECOL-PR, 216, 2001, pp. 191-200
We investigated prey selection by the 2 most important planktivores in the
northern Baltic, the Baltic herring Clupea harengus membras L. and the mysi
d shrimp Mysis mixta Lilljeborg. We hypothesised that the intensity of prey
selection by herring is positively related to prey size and that deviation
s from this relationship can be explained by prey escape capabilities. For
the non-visually hunting mysids we assumed that prey size is less important
than in herring and that escape capabilities of the prey explain a larger
fraction of selectivities. To evaluate these hypotheses, we obtained select
ivity indices for C. harengus membras and M mixta from previous studies mad
e either in the field (herring) or in the laboratory (mysids). We then quan
tified the escape performances of the 5 most abundant crustacean zooplankto
n species in the Baltic Sea by videofilming the plankters escaping from an
artificially created water flow (siphon). As hypothesized, herring behaved
as size-selective predators: prey selectivity rank was Temora longicornis >
Eurytemora affinis > Pseudocalanus elongatus > Acartia sp, > Bosmina longi
spina maritima, In M. mixta, the selectivity rank was surprisingly similar,
only the cladoceran B. longispina maritima was relatively more positively
selected than in herring. Comparing the observed predator selectivities wit
h the results of the siphon experiments allowed us to identify cases where
the predators appeared to show 'true' positive selection for a certain prey
(E. affinis) and where the selection was 'truly' negative (P. elongatus).
On the basis of these results we suggest that large-sized copepods are impo
rtant food for both herring and mysids and that a hydrography-induced shift
towards a cladoceran-dominated zooplankton community may decrease the food
gain by Baltic herring.