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Cultivation experiments on North Sea ctenophores

Kulturversuche an Nordsee-Ctenophoren

Kurzfassung

Die Ctenophoren gehören zu den Holoplanktern, die im neritischen Bereich der Nordsee eine wichtige Rolle in der Nahrungskette spielen. Die Empfindlichkeit dieser Organismengruppe erschwert experimentelle Untersuchungen. Mit neuen Methoden und Geräten, der „Doppelküvette“ und dem „Phytoplanktonkreisel“, die aus dem „Planktonkreisel“ (Greve 1968) entwickelt wurden, gelang die langfristige Hälterung der 4 Ctenophorenarten, die in der Deutschen Bucht vorkommen:Pleurobrachia pileus Fabr.,Bolinopsis infundibulum Müller,Beroe cucumis Fabr. undBeroe gracilis Künne. Die Kulturversuche lassen Aussagen über Ernährung, einige Verhaltensbesonderheiten, Entwicklung und Wachstumsgeschwindigkeit dieser 4 Arten zu. Die teilweise an nur geringen Individuenzahlen gewonnenen Ergebnisse ergänzen die wenigen vorhandenen Daten über die Ökologie der hiesigen Ctenophoren, die sich durch besondere interspezifische Beziehungen auszeichnen; so frißtBeroe gracilis nurPleurobrachia pileus undBeroe cucumis fast nurBolinopsis infundibulum.

Summary

1. The development of new cultivation devices, the double kuvette and the phytoplanktonkreisel, made it possible to culture the 4 species of ctenophores occurring in the southern North Sea:Pleurobrachia pileus, Bolinopsis infundibulum, Beroe cucumis andBeroe gracilis. These ctenophores are holoplanktonic organisms of great ecological importance in local marine food chains.

2. The double kuvette, an improved version of the planktonkreisel permits the control of growth and feeding rate without disturbing the test organisms.

3. The phytoplanktonkreisel permits experiments close to habitat conditions with high seston densities and wave action.

4.Beroe gracilis andPleurobrachia pileus could be reared from egg to egg; the other 2 species could be maintained over several weeks.

5. Data are given on the nutrition of all 4 species as well as on their growth rates, development and behavior.

6.Beroe gracilis feed exclusively onPleurobrachia pileus; Beroe cucumis feed mainly onBolinopsis infundibulum.

7. The young stages only ofBolinopsis infundibulum have true larval organs (tentacles) and may be called larvae.

8. Some ecological implications of the findings are discussed.

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Greve, W. Cultivation experiments on North Sea ctenophores. Helgolander Wiss. Meeresunters 20, 304–317 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01609908

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