The link between specific dynamic action (SDA) and protein deposition was investigated in copepodites stage V of two calanoid copepod species, the neritic Acartia tonsa and the oceanic Calanus finmarchicus. This was done by measuring respiration before, during, and after a specific feeding period and measuring the incorporation of carbon into proteins. These were also measured on individuals incubated with cycloheximide, an antibiotic that inhibits protein synthesis. The cycloheximide treatment significantly diminished the magnitude of SDA in both A. tonsa and C. finmarchicus, and inhibited carbon incorporation into protein in both species. This provides evidence that the rate at which protein deposition takes place greatly affects the magnitude of SDA. The specific respiration rates of both starving and feeding copepods were generally higher in A. tonsa than in C. finmarchicus. This influenced SDA, the magnitude of SDA normalised to an 8 h feeding period being threefold higher in A. tonsa (78.7+/-25.7 nlO(2) µgC(-1)) than in C. finmarchicus (27.5+/-11.6 nlO(2) µgC(-1)). This difference may arise due to differences in energy allocation in the organisms of the copepodite V stage of the two species. In this stage C. finmarchicus deposits large quantities of storage lipids, predominately wax esters, whereas A. tonsa deposits proteins during somatic growth.