Relationship between egg productivity and RNA/DNA ratio in Paracalanus sp. in the frontal waters of the Kurshio

The relationship between RNA/DNA ratio and egg productivity of adult Paracalanus sp. females was investigated in the frontal area of the Kuroshio current off Kinkazan Island and Boso Peninsula, Pacific coast of Japan in 1989 and 1990, respectively. In the Kuroshio front off Kinkazan Island, the RNA/DNA ratio of females in the surface layer ranged from 3.87 to 6.92 along a transect 8 miles across the front. In the Kuroshio front off Boso Peninsula, the RNA/DNA ratio varied between 5.15 and 7.27 for 32 h in the course of tracking a drifter launched in the front. The RNA/DNA ratio of the females in both frontal areas tended to increase together with ambient chlorophyll-a concentration, and the relationship fitted to Ivlev's formula (P<0.05). The number of eggs laid in filtered sea-water during 24 h (egg productivity) was also positively correlated with the ambient chlorophyll a concentration (P<0.05). There was a positive correlation (P<0.001) between RNA/DNA ratio and egg productivity, and RNA/DNA ratios accounted for about 70% of variation of the egg productivity. Judging from RNA/DNA ratios and female egg productivity in both frontal areas, relatively large physiological or reproductive changes could possibly occur in small temporal and spatial scales in association with change in phytoplankton abundance.