Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

SS18 Invertebrate Diapause as a Seasonal Adaption in Inland and Marine Ecosystems (Spatial and Temporal Connections)

Date: Monday, February 12, 2001, Time: 11:45:00 AM

Location: Sandia/Santa Ana

Williams, J, L, Univ of Southern Miss Gulf Coast, Long Beach, MS, USA, judith.williams@usm.edu

LIPID BIOCHEMISTRY OF THE MARINE HARPACTICOID COPEPOD HETEROPSYLLUS NUNNI DURING ENCYSTMENT DIAPAUSE

Heteropsyllus nunni, a benthic harpacticoid copepod, undergoes dormancy (diapause) for months within sandy, intertidal mudflats in two regions of the United States. Prior to diapause, it produces and stores a large amount of orange lipid, primarily wax esters; it then attaches itself to a large sand grain, secretes a pliable cyst around its body and begins dormancy. The wax ester lipid store is utilized during the dormant period and is visibly reduced. This copepod is herbivorous, feeding primarily on benthic algae/diatoms prior to diapause. The fatty acid profile of the stored lipids is reflective of the hervivorous diet. The predominance of wax esters, while common in overwintering (diapausing) arctic calanoids, is perhaps an unusual storage lipid for a benthic, subtropical harpacticoid. Unexpectedly, the dominant fatty acids were 14:0, 16:0 and 18:0, not the 20:5w3 and 22:6w3 fatty acids which are often high in dormant marine calanoids.

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Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

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