Abstract
Grazing of zooplankton on phytoplankton may contribute to a reduction of harmful cyanobacteria in eutrophic waters. However, the feeding capacity and interaction between zooplankton and toxic cyanobacteria vary among grazer species. In this study, laboratory feeding experiments were designed to measure the grazing rate of the copepod
on
and the potential microcystin (MC) accumulation in the grazer. Copepods were fed a mixed diet of the edible green alga
and toxic
for 10 days. The results showed that C.
efficiently ingested toxic
cells with high grazing rates, varying during the feeding period (68.9–606.3
cells animal
d
) along with
cell density.
cells exhibited a remarkable induction in MC production under grazing conditions with concentrations 1.67–12.5 times higher than those in control cultures. Furthermore, C.
was found to accumulate MCs in its body with concentrations increasing during the experiment (0.05–3.21 μg MC animal
). Further in situ studies are needed to investigate the ability of
and other copepods to assimilate and detoxify MCs at environmentally relevant concentrations before deciding on the biocontrol of
blooms by copepods.