Secondary Production of the Estuarine, Meiobenthic Copepod Microarthridion littorale

Abstract

Secondary production of M. littorale, an estuarine meiobenthic copepod, was determined in a South Carolina (USA) salt marsh by the use of size-frequency distributions and age-specific growth rates. For all individuals production was highest in 1976 during late summer, with a daily production rate of 1.2 .mu.g 10 cm-2 day-1. In 1978-1979, production for adults was much lower, less than half of the 1976 adult values. An annual production of 0.14 gm-2 dry weight is estimated, yielding a production/biomass ratio of 18.0 yr-1 in 1976.