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Are taxonomic details of relevance to ecologists? An example from oncaeid microcopepods of the Red Sea

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Abstract

The marine microcopepod family Oncaeidae in the Red Sea has been the subject of comprehensive ecological studies over the past 15 years, providing for the first time insights into their community structure, vertical distribution and feeding ecology. Owing to taxonomic problems in species identification, however, many of the earlier ecological results were based on provisionally named species or morphotypes. A recent, ongoing taxonomic study of Red Sea Oncaeidae resulted in a considerable increase in the estimated numbers of species, since many of the species had not been described before. The present paper focuses on the potential significance of an improved taxonomic resolution of oncaeids with respect to various ecological aspects in this area, such as indicator species, community analysis and vertical distribution. The progress in our knowledge of the diversity of Red Sea Oncaeidae is summarized, including latest findings on the taxonomy and zoogeography of very small species (<0.5 mm), and the importance of sibling species in the family is pointed out. The south–north gradient in species diversity of Oncaeidae within the Red Sea appears to be greater than previously assumed, since several of the newly described species were restricted to the southern part. The number of endemic species among Red Sea oncaeids is very low, however, most of the new species being also recorded outside the Red Sea. New quantitative data on the abundance and vertical distribution of selected oncaeid siblings obtained during a recent cruise in the northern Red Sea are provided to exemplify the changes in the knowledge of oncaeid community structure attributable to the improved taxonomic resolution. The potential ecological importance of a more differentiated consideration of oncaeid species in marine microcopepod communities is discussed.

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Acknowledgements

We are indebted to Prof. D. Schnack for substantial support during the study and for thoughtful comments on the manuscript. Sincere thanks are given to Dr. R. Huys for fundamental advice on the taxonomy of oncaeid copepods. We wish to thank Prof. W. Hagen and Dr. S.B. Schnack-Schiel who collected the small-mesh-net plankton samples during R.V. “Meteor” cruise 44/2. Thanks are due to D. Elvers for providing unpublished results on the molecular-genetics of Oncaea venusta and to GA Heron for comments on the taxonomy of conifera-type oncaeids. Dr. B.-C. Oh kindly made available his unpublished data on the carnivorous feeding behaviour of oncaeid copepods. We gratefully acknowledge the donation of additional copepod material for zoogeographical records from Dr. N. Riccardi (Istituto per lo Studio degli Ecosistemi, Verbania Pallanza; O. waldemari, Lagoon of Venice), Y. Nishibe (Hokkaido University, Hakodate; T. parasimilis, NW Pacific), Dr. H. Rezai (University of Putra Malaysia, Serdang; O. paraclevei, Strait of Malacca), and S. Zervoudaki (National Centre of Marine Research, Institute of Oceanography, Anavyssos; O. media, O. scottodicarloi and O. waldemari, northern Aegean Sea). The constructive comments of Dr. Z. Kabata, Dr. A.G. Hirst and of an anonymous reviewer improved an earlier draft of the manuscript. This study was partly supported by a grant from the German Research Foundation (DFG) to J. Lenz (Le 232/18).

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  1. Moorsehdener Weg 8, 24211, Rastorf-Rosenfeld, Germany

    R. Böttger-Schnack

  2. Institut für Meereskunde an der Universität Kiel, Düsternbrooker Weg 20, 24105, Kiel, Germany

    J. Lenz

  3. Institut für Hydrobiologie und Fischereiwissenschaft, Universität Hamburg, Zeiseweg 9, 22765, Hamburg, Germany

    H. Weikert

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Böttger-Schnack, R., Lenz, J. & Weikert, H. Are taxonomic details of relevance to ecologists? An example from oncaeid microcopepods of the Red Sea. Marine Biology 144, 1127–1140 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-003-1272-8

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