Ambush-feeding copepods passively wait for its prey and capture them by a fast surprise attack. The copepods sense the hydromechanical signals generated by their motile prey. However, the ambush feeding copepod Apocyclops royi can be sustained on a diet of Baker’s yeast, which are small, non-motile cells. We asked how this ambush-feeding copepod can live on a small, non-motile cell.
By observing the copepods using high-speed videography, we found that A. royi feeds by ambush-feeding when offered both flagellates and Baker’s yeast. Further, we evaluated the sensitivity of A. royi to fluid disturbances generated by a siphon flow. We found that A. royi was not more sensitive to the disturbances than other ambush-feeding copepods. Thus, since the yeast particles are non-motile, we suggest that the copepods perceive them through the yeast randomly touching the mechanosensors on the copepod antennae.
Read the paper here: https://doi.org/10.1093/plankt/fbac040
Zempléni, A., Benni W. Hansen, T. Kiørboe, and F. Ryderheim. 2022. Resolving the paradox of the ambush feeding cyclopoid copepod Apocyclops royi being microphageous. Journal of Plankton Research, fbac040, doi:10.1093/plankt/fbac040.
Header image: An Apocyclops royi copepod. © Hans van Someren Gréve.