Phenological Mechanisms of Calanus

尺足类及其近亲是中纬度海洋中数量最多的浮游动物。它们的生命周期特征是在最后一个发育阶段，即第五桡足类(C5)，包括较长的休眠期。这些休眠期是在相当深的水中度过的。摄食和发育过程都会停止，而活动则受到严重限制。动物生活史中的休息期是非常普遍的，对于许多物种，如昆虫，休息期的生物学细节是众所周知的。但在卡拉努斯，情况并非如此。将开始对影响睡眠和唤醒开始的因素进行实验分析。休眠的C5将在秋季从缅因州附近的水域收集在黑暗维持的容器中，并将接受三种处理：1)持续的黑暗；2)近地表强度和日长；3)500米的强度和日长。结果应该揭示触发唤醒的机制是内源性的(内部计时器)还是外源性的(对光周期的反应)。

Copepods of the genus Calanus and its near relatives are the most abundant zooplankters in mid-latitude oceans. Their life cycles characteristically include prolonged resting phases in the last developmental stage, the fifth copepodite (C5). These dormant periods are spent at considerable depths in mid-water. Feeding and developmental progress both stop, while activity is sharply limited. Rest phases in the life history are very common among animals, and for many groups, such as the insects, the biological details of the resting phases are very well known. In Calanus this is not the case. An experimental analyses of the factors influencing the onset of dormancy and arousal will be initiated. Dormant C5 will be collected in dark-maintaining containers from waters off Maine in autumn, and will be exposed to three treatments: 1) constant darkness; 2) near-surface intensity and daylength; and 3) 500 m intensity and daylength. Results should reveal whether the mechanism that triggers arousal is endogenous (an internal timer) or exogenous (a response to photoperiod).