Rahlff, Janina and Ribas-Ribas, Mariana and Brown, Scott M. and Mustaffa, Nur Ili Hamizah and Renz, Jasmin and Peck, Myron A. and Bird, Kimberley and Cunliffe, Michael and Melkonian, Katharina and Zappa, Christopher J.
(2018)
Blue pigmentation of neustonic copepods benefits exploitation of a prey-rich niche at the air-sea boundary.
Scientific reports, 8 (1).
p. 11510.
ISSN 2045-2322
Abstract
The sea-surface microlayer (SML) at the air-sea interface is a distinct, under-studied habitat compared
to the subsurface and copepods, important components of ocean food webs, have developed key
adaptations to exploit this niche. By using automated SML sampling, high-throughput sequencing
and unmanned aerial vehicles, we report on the distribution and abundance of pontellid copepods
in relation to the unique biophysicochemical signature of the SML. We found copepods in the SML
even during high exposure to sun-derived ultraviolet radiation and their abundance was significantly
correlated to increased algal biomass. We additionally investigated the significance of the pontellids’
blue pigmentation and found that the reflectance peak of the blue pigment matched the water-leaving
spectral radiance of the ocean surface. This feature could reduce high visibility at the air-sea boundary
and potentially provide camouflage of copepods from their predators.
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