Rates of metabolism of planktonic crustaceans as related to body weight and temperature of habitat

Abstract

The relation between the rates of oxygen consumption and ammonium excretion of planktonic crustaceans and their body weight, as expressed by the allometric equation (M = a W^b), was established for animals collected from two habitats of different temperature: a boreal region, the southeastern Bering Sea, and a subtropical region, the Mid-Atlantic Bight. In contrast to findings of previous investigations on the effect of temperature of habitat on the body-size dependence of metabolic rates of zooplankton, the slope of the equation relating rate of metabolism and body weight was independent of temperature of habitat, but the intercept of the equation was strongly influenced by temperature of habitat and the lipid content of the animals.