Published In
Research Square
Document Type
Pre-Print
Publication Date
1-27-2026
Subjects
Marine Synechococcus -- diatoms, Crocosphaera, Chrysochromulina
Abstract
Mortality mechanisms play an important role in how oceanic microorganisms contribute to global biogeochemical cycles. Salps are widespread pelagic tunicates known to remove phytoplankton from coastal and high-latitude waters, but their interaction with microorganisms in the vast tropical and subtropical gyres is not well quantified. Using quantitative measurements of six major marine microorganisms in the guts of six distinct but co-occurring salp species from the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre, we examined the impact and dynamics of salp feeding on marine microorganisms in a vast open ocean region. All salps preferentially removed prey greater than 1 μm in diameter, including marine , diatoms, , and , while the smaller and SAR11 were not a major source of prey biomass. We also found that salp feeding varied between salp taxa with some salp guts dominated by both and while others were dominated by alone. Together, these results suggest that salp impacts are not uniform across taxa and their patterns of selective feeding among marine microbes requires consideration of species-specific feeding strategies and environmental context. Further, this work suggests that the mortality pressure of salp feeding on marine microorganisms may shape microbial community structure and that this pressure varies with the diversity and dynamics of macrozooplankton predators.
Rights
Copyright (c) 2026 The Authors
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Locate the Document
https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8605244/v1
DOI
10.21203/rs.3.rs-8605244/v1
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/44482
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Citation Details
Published as: Thompson, A. W., Sutherland, K. R., & Lamberson, K. M. (2026). Coexisting salps exhibit distinct feeding selectivity on microorganisms in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. Marine Biology
Description
This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published as: Coexisting salps exhibit distinct feeding selectivity on microorganisms in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. 2026.