Pavlova E.V. Movement and energy metabolism of marine planktonic organisms

Abstract

This monograph on the motility characteristics and metabolic demand of plankton organisms is the English translation of an early treatise originally published in Russian in 1987. Most of the data presented correspond to personal observations of the author and refer to a broad representation of planktonic phyla, from dinoflagellates to ctenophores, several crustaceans (amongst them about a dozen Copepod species) and tunicates (salps), on different marine systems including the Black and Mediterranean Seas and the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The work is divided into nine chapters, including a short introduction and the conclusions. Chapters 2 to 4 are devoted to plankton motion, and cover methodological aspects, the description and quantification of the displacement of the different plankton organisms, and the variability induced by the experimental conditions. The different components of zooplankton metabolism (energy losses) are discussed in Chapters 5 to 8, which include topics such as the study of basal and total metabolism and the relation between zooplankton motion and metabolic demand.