Predator-prey behavior and its effect on rotifer survival in associations of Mesocyclops edax, Asplanchna girodi, Polyarthra vulgaris, and Keratella cochlearis

Abstract

The predatory copepod Mesocyclops edax preys effectively on the rotifers Asplanchna girodi and Polyarthra vulgaris but not on the rotifer Keratella cochlearis. It readily captures individuals of this latter species but usually releases them unharmed, being unable to remove the soft parts within their loricae. The predatory A. girodi regularly eats K. cochlearis but cannot catch P. vulgaris. When P. vulgaris is contacted by the corona of A. girodi, it immediately escapes by elevating its paddles and jumping away a distance up to about ten times its own body length. In experimental communities of these predator and prey species the survival of Polyarthra and Keratella is significantly affected by the species of predator present and by predator-prey interaction between the two predators when both are present.