Food availability and salinity tolerance in a brackish water copepod

Abstract

The brackish water copepod Sulcanus conflictus is rarely found in salinities in excess of c. 25‰. In the laboratory, well-fed S. conflictus will survive in salinities greater than this although if food is not available survival time decreases as salinity increases. The hypothesis is presented that for S. conflictus, osmoregulation requires constant energy supply which can be related to food availability.