Etude de la nutrition du zooplancton en zone d'upwelling par la mesure des activités enzymatiques digestives

The feeding of the zooplankton has been studied in the natural environment of an upwelling ecosystem by measurements of amylase and protease activities. The hypothesis of enzymatic specific activity as a nutritional index is extended by a correlation with Lorenzen's grazing index. There is no correlation between amylase and protease activity so the diet of the populations is described by the ratio of these two enzymatic activities. Variations of relative feeding rate for Calanus, Temora, Acartia, Podon, and for the total sample are discussed in relation to the ecological and trophic characteristics of the environment.