Natural ingestion rates of the copepods Neocalanus plumchrus and N. cristatus calculated from gut contents

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Abstract
Gut contents of copepodid stage V N. plumchrus and N. cristatus from 5 depth strata were measured with a gut fluorescence method, every 3-7 h, during five 24 h stations in the Bering Sea. Levels of gut fullness were generally higher during the phytoplankton bloom in May than post-bloom in June. Within each 24 h period, levels of gut fullness varied with depth and time, and were not related to ambient chlorophyll concentrations. Individuals of both species were vertically mobile. Gut evacuation rate, used to convert gut-content data to feeding rates, was exponential and temperature dependent. Short-term feeding rates varied within each 24 h period and sometimes were much higher than rates measured by more traditional methods which involve 12-24 h incubations.