Larvae planktonic

Meroplankton comprise organisms that spend only part of their life in the plankton. Primarily eggs and larvae of benthic or actively swimming adults fulfill this criterion, and the study of their chemical defense is often supported by the knowledge of defensive metabolites of their adult life stages. 

Lakes that have been acidified cannot support the same variety of life as healthy lakes. As a lake becomes more acidic, crayfish and clam populations are the first to disappear, then various types of fish. Many types of plankton—minute organisms that form the basis of the lake s food chain—are also affected. As fish stocks dwindle, so do populations of loons and other water birds that feed on them. The lakes, however, do not become totally dead. Some life forms actually benefit from the increased acidity. Lake-bottom plants and mosses, for instance, thrive in acid lakes. So do blackfly larvae. 

Significant concentrations of cyanotoxins have been found to accumulate in the tissues of macroinvertebrates such as mollusks and crustaceans, presenting an indirect route of exposure for invertebrates, fish, and aquatic mammals at higher trophic levels (Negri and Jones 1995). In natural systems, mortality among benthic invertebrate herbivores is probably low because most bloom-forming bacteria are planktonic and only periodically come into contact with the benthos. Nevertheless, Kotak et al. (1996) determined that enhanced mortality of snails at the end of a bloom cycle in Canadian lakes was due to consumption of Microcystis cells that had formed a scum on the surface of macrophytes. Oberemm et al. (1999) found that aqueous microcystins, saxitoxins, and anatoxin-a all resulted in developmental delays in fish and salamander embryos. Interestingly, more severe malformations and enhanced mortality were observed when larvae were exposed to crude cyanobacterial extracts than to pure toxins applied at natural concentrations (Oberemm et al. 1999). 

The photo synthetic aquatic biomass comprises cyanobacteria (formerly called blue-green algae), planktonic, filamentous and macrophytic algae, and vascular macrophytes. The net productivity of the floodwater depends on the level of primary production by the photosynthetic biomass versus its consumption by grazing animals, particularly cladocerans, copepods, ostracods, insect larvae and molluscs. Their role will change as the canopy develops and at a leaf area index of about 6-7 there will be no more photosynthetically active radiation available to them. 

In a model aquatic ecosystem, methoxychlor degraded to ethanol, dihydroxy ethane, dihy-droxyethylene, and unidentified polar metabolites (Metcalf et al, 1971). Kapoor et al. (1970) also studied the biodegradation of methoxychlor in a model ecosystem containing snails, plankton, mosquito larvae, Daphnia magna, and mosquito fish Gambusia affinis). The following metabolites were identified 2-(/5-methoxyphenyl)-2-(p-hydroxyphenyl)-l,l,l-trichloroethane, 2,2-bis (p-hydroxyphenyl) -1,1,1 -trichloroethane, 2,2-bis (p-hydroxyphenyl) -1,1,1 -trichloroethylene,... 

Morse, D.E. Hooka, N. Duncan, H. Jensen, L. (1979) y-Aminobutyric acid, a neurotransmitta, induces planktonic larvae to settle and begin metamorphosis. Science, 204, 407-10. 

Molluscs The spat (larva) of the freshwater mussel Dressenia poly-morpha are planktonic and can completely block pipework, screens, and filters, generally requiring mechanical removal. 

Importantly, Lindquist et al.53 also document that ascidians can exhibit chemical differences between defensive secondary metabolites among adults and larvae. For example, larvae from colonies of Sigillina cf. signifera contained more tambjamine C, less tambjamine E, and no tambjamine F as compared to adults.65 Moreover, larvae of Trididemnum solidum contain only four of the six didemnins found in adults.53 This could be the result of different selective pressures during planktonic vs. benthic life history phases. In contrast, Lucas et al.44 found no differences in the saponin chemical defenses of the embryos, larvae, and adults of the sea star Acanthaster planci. Clearly, additional studies are needed to expand the evaluation of ontogenetic shifts in defensive chemistry in marine organisms. 

We know very little about the secondary metabolic chemistry of the plankton. Studies of the meroplankton, specifically of the pelagic eggs, embryos, and larvae of benthic invertebrates, have... 

Morgan, S.G., Life and death in the plankton, in Ecology of Marine Invertebrate Larvae, McEdward, L Ed., CRC Press, New York, 1995, 279. 

Pennington, J.T. and Chia, F.S., Morphological and behavioral defenses of trochophore larvae of Sabellaria cementarium (Polychaeta) against four planktonic predators, Biol. Bull., 167, 168, 1984. 

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