Proper thermal adaptation is key to understanding how species respond to temperature. However, this is seldom considered in protozooplankton and mixoplankton experiments. In this work, we studied how two heterotrophic dinoflagellates (Gyrodinium dominans and Oxyrrhis marina), one heterotrophic ciliate (Strombidium arenicola), and one mixotrophic dinoflagellate (Karlodinium armiger) responded to warming, comparing strains adapted at 16, 19 and 22 °C and those adapted at 16 °C and exposed for 3 days at 19 and 22 °C (acclimated treatments). Neither CNP contents nor the corresponding elemental ratios showed straightforward changes with temperature, except for a modest increase in P contents with temperature in some grazers. In general, the performance of both acclimated and adapted grazers increased from 16 to 19 °C and then dropped at 22 °C, with a few exceptions. Therefore, our organisms followed the “hotter is better” hypothesis from 16 to 19 °C; above 19 °C, however, the results were variable. Despite the disparity in the responses between species and physiological rates, in general, it seems that 19 °C-adapted organisms performed better than acclimated-only organisms. However, at 22 °C, most species were at the limit of their metabolisms and were unable to fully adapt. Nevertheless, adaptation to higher temperatures conferred some advantages prior to sudden increases in temperature (up to 25 °C) that simulated a heatwave episode. In summary, adaptation to temperature seems to confer a selective advantage to protistan grazers within a narrow range (i.e., ca. 3 °C). Adaptation to much higher temperatures (i.e., 6 °C) does not confer any clear physiological advantage (with few exceptions; e.g., the mixotroph K. armiger), at least within the time frame of our experiments

This research was funded by Grant CTM2017-84288-R by Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER)/ Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades—Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI), and by Grant PID2020-118645RB-I00 by Ministerio de Ciencia e innovación (MCIN)/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033 and by “ERDF A way of making Europe”. With the institutional support of the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S)

Para 4 especies: Volumen (µm3/depredador), Tasa crecimiento (µ 1/d), Tasa de ingestion (cells/ind/d), Eficiencia bruta de crecimiento (GGE, %)

It is a contribution of the Marine Zooplankton Ecology Group (2017 SGR 87)

Peer reviewed