Energetic costs of swarming behavior for the copepod Dioithona oculata

The cyclopoid copepod Dioithona oculata forms dense swarms within shafts of sunlight that penetrate the mangrove prop-root habitat of islands off the coast of Belize. Previous studies, based on in situ video recordings and laboratory studies, have shown that D. oculata is capable of maintaining fixed-position swarms in spite of currents of up to 2 cm s⁻¹. The purpose of this study was to examine the energetic costs of maintaining these swarms, in terms of increased metabolic costs of maintaining position in currents and in terms of reduced feeding rates in densely packed swarms during the day. Using a sealed, variable-speed flow-through chamber, the respiration rates of D. oculata were measured while swarms maintained position in different current speeds. The results indicate that active metabolism (swimming at maximum speed to maintain the swarm in a current) is approximately three times greater than routine metabolism (normal swimming speeds in the absence of currents), indicating a significant metabolic cost of maintaining swarms in the presence of currents. In addition, gut-pigment analysis indicated that feeding rates of these copepods were often reduced in swarms during the day compared to when the copepods were dispersed at night. Given the high “cost” of swarming, the adaptive value of swarming in terms of reduced predation, increased opportunities for mating, and reduced dispersal, must be substantial. Received: 4 June 1997 / Accepted: 18 September 1997