Response or Comment
Marine Ecology Progress Series
In a recent account regarding the destruction of chloropigments within the guts of copepods, Head & Harris (1996) (H&H) presented valuable data on pigment destruction in copepods. However, in one of their main conclusions, the authors invoked 2 enzyme pools to explain the pattern of pigment destruction: one directly derived from copepods, the other one produced by the ingested algae. If this conclusion is correct, it would have tremendous impact on the interpretation of data collected by the gut pigment technique. Estimating ingestion rates of copepods in the field would be very difficult, if not impossible, if pigment destruction was dependent upon an unknown food composition in the gut. We therefore felt it necessary to examine the evidence presented in H&H carefully. As we will demonstrate, (1) there is no evidence to postulate the existence of 2 enzyme pools, and (2) the majority of enzymes responsible for pigment destruction are as likely to originate from copepods as from the ingested algae.
Original Publication Citation
Bochdansky, A. B., & Deibel, D. (1997). Destruction of chloropigments in copepod guts. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 147(1-3), 301-303. doi:10.3354/meps147301
Bochdansky, A. B. and Deibel, D., "Destruction of Chloropigments in Copepod Guts" (1997). OES Faculty Publications. 202.