Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

SS35 Biological and Ecological Responses to Low Oxygen in Constant and Fluctuating Environments (Spatial and Temporal Connections)

Date: Thursday, February 15, 2001, Time: 9:45:00 AM

Location: La Cienega

Thuesen, E, V, Evergreen State College, Olympia, USA, thuesene@evergreen.edu

Rutherford Jr., L, D, Evergreen State College, Olympia, USA,

OXYGEN REGULATION AND SURVIVAL IN HYPOXIA BY ESTUARINE GELATINOUS ZOOPLANKTON

Gelatinous zooplankton are known to thrive in estuaries that experience episodic hypoxia, and their ability to tolerate low oxygen conditions may have significant effects on pelagic food web structure. We have examined the oxygen regulatory abilities of several species of gelatinous zooplankton in southern Puget Sound, including ctenophores, hydromedusae, scyphomedusae and siphonophores in order to understand the mechanisms whereby these organisms can withstand low oxygen conditions. Some species can oxyregulate to below 15% oxygen saturation. When transferred from high-oxygen water to water depleted in oxygen, ctenophores and medusae release oxygen into a closed chamber. Enough oxygen is stored to allow these organisms to live aerobically in total anoxia for over an hour. This novel oxygen storage mechanism may be important for many gelatinous zooplankters that migrate vertically in and out of low oxygen environments.

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Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

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