Respiration rates of copepod larvae and a ciliate from a tropical sea

The respiration rates of copepod larvae and a ciliate (Placus sp.) from a tropical sea were measured with an oxygen electrode method. The general range of body size of these animals was 40–161m (diameter equivalent to a sphere), and the respiration rate measured was 0.00076–0.00176l O₂ (animal)^–1h^–1 (or 2.02–9.05l O₂ (mg wet weight)^–1h^–1) at 25.5–29.2C. There was no marked difference observed between the respiration rates of copepod larvae and the ciliate. The respiration rates obtained here are relatively higher than the rates of other similar sized protozoans found in the literature, but lower than the rate extrapolated from larger planktonic copepods in tropical seas.The present results and other information available on microzooplankton biomass suggest that microzooplankton respiration is of near equal importance to that of net zooplankton in the study of energy flow through tropical, pelagic ecosystems.