Feeding by common heterotrophic dinoflagellates and a ciliate on the red-tide ciliate Mesodinium rubrum

doi:2014.29.2.153

Algae > Volume 29(2); 2014 > Article

Algae 2014;29(2): 153-163. doi: https://doi.org/10.4490/algae.2014.29.2.153

Kyung Ha Lee¹, Hae Jin Jeong¹^,2^,*, Eun Young Yoon², Se Hyeon Jang¹, Hyung Seop Kim³ and Wonho Yih⁴

¹School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-747, Korea
²Advanced Institutes of Convergence Technology, Suwon 443-270, Korea
³Department of Marine Biotechnology, College of Ocean Sciences, Kunsan National University, Kunsan 573-701, Korea
⁴Department of Oceanography, College of Ocean Sciences, Kunsan National University, Kunsan 573-701, Korea

*Corresponding Author

Email: hjjeong@snu.ac.kr

ABSTRACT

Mesodinium rubrum is a cosmopolitan ciliate that often causes red tides. Predation by heterotrophic protists is a critical factor that affects the population dynamics of red tide species. However, there have been few studies on protistan predators feeding on M. rubrum. To investigate heterotrophic protists grazing on M. rubrum, we tested whether the heterotrophic dinoflagellates Gyrodiniellum shiwhaense, Gyrodinium dominans, Gyrodinium spirale, Luciella masanensis, Oblea rotunda, Oxyrrhis marina, Pfiesteria piscicida, Polykrikos kofoidii, Protoperidinium bipes, and Stoeckeria algicida, and the ciliate Strombidium sp. preyed on M. rubrum. G. dominans, L. masanensis, O. rotunda, P. kofoidii, and Strombidium sp. preyed on M. rubrum. However, only G. dominans had a positive growth feeding on M. rubrum. The growth and ingestion rates of G. dominans on M. rubrum increased rapidly with increasing mean prey concentration

Key words: ciliate; growth; harmful algal bloom; ingestion; predation