Chemical composition and oxygen consumption rates of the ctenophore Bolinopsis infundibulum from the Gulf of Maine

Quantitative determinations of chemical composition and oxygenconsumption rates were made for a deep-living population ofthe lobate ctenophore Bolinopsis infundibulum. Animals werecollected in the Gulf of Maine with the submersible ‘Johnson-Sea-Link’during September 1989 at depths ranging from 120 to 240 m. Carbonand nitrogen contents were similar to values reported for epipelagicctenophores. Lipid and protein levels were lower than valuestypical of epipelagic ctenophores, but higher than those ofmesopelagic species. Carbohydrate was nearly an order of magnitudehigher than previously recorded for B.infundibulum. Oxygen consumptionrates ranged from 0.004 to 0.235 µl O₂ mg^–1 dryweight h^– at temperatures ranging from 5 to 7°C. Carbon-specificmetabolic rates ranged from 0.21 to 12.73 µl O₂ mg^–1C h^–1. Energy expenditures estimated from respirationdata (