Prey removal incubations were conducted in the Argo Basin (eastern Indian Ocean) to investigate the trophic ecology of the zooplankton community supporting Southern Bluefin Tuna larvae. Copepod grazing and selectivity were evaluated considering prey trophic mode and size as food quality descriptors and compared with microzooplankton grazing. Copepods ingested between 3.4 and 138 ng carbon (C) ind−1 d−1. Diet was dominated by mixotrophic (5–89 %) and heterotrophic (0–84 %) prey, with autotrophs contributing 2–17 %. Nanoplankton provided the highest C intake to copepods (62–99 %) versus picoplankton (0.8–38 %), despite more picoplankton cells ingested. No measurable reduction in chlorophyll a (Chla) concentration occurred from copepod grazing through food removal, suggesting an indirect trophic pathway, although gut content revealed ingestion of 0.8 μg Chla ind−1 d−1. Calculations from disappearance incubations imply copepod selection on picoplankton (E = 0.3) over nanoplankton, but picoplankton were likely ingested as aggregates or depressed due to a trophic cascade of copepods ingesting nano-microzooplankton. Copepods ingested protistan consumers and/or metazoans fed on 15N-cyanobacteria with ∼5-fold higher N uptake from 1 to 2 μm 15N-Synechococcus than from <1 μm 15N-Prochlorococcus. Microzooplankton grazing on eukaryotes (0.07–2.5 d−1) and prokaryotes (0.3–2.1 d−1) greatly exceeded copepod grazing. Microzooplankton diet consisted mostly of heterotrophs (25–59 %) and mixotrophs (13–41 %) followed by autotrophs (12–33 %), with more nano- (95–98 %) than picophytoplankton (2–5 %). Overall, microzooplankton removed most daily production (111 %) in contrast to 7 % for copepods. Our findings indicate that mixotrophy, intraguild grazing and nutrient channeling support the food web in this oligotrophic region.
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