The Predation Impact by the Heterotrophic Dinoflagellate Protoperidinium cf. divergens on Copepod eggs in the Presence of Co-occurring Phytoplankton prey

I investigated the predation impact by the heterotrophic dinoflagellate Protoperidinium cf. divergens on copepod eggs in the presence of co-occurring phytoplankton prey (a preferred red-tide dinoflagellate Gonyaulax polyedra) and the selective feeding on mixtures of both prey. The ingestion rates of P. cf. divergens on Egg N (unidentified round copepod eggs with a smooth surface, about 80 in diameter) decreased by only 1.7-2 times when mean G. polyedra concentration increased by 57-115 times. In mixed prey experiments, P. cf. divergens preferred Egg N over G. polyedra even at 1.1 ${\mu}g$C $ml^{-1}$ or 470 cells $ml^{-1}$ of the latter. A strong preference of P. cf. divergens for Egg N over G. polyedra can be responsible for this relatively small effect. Protoperidinium may sometimes have a considerable predation impact on the populations of Egg N even during phytoplankton blooms or red-tide periods.