Publication Date:
2018-02-28
Description:
Plgments are frequently used as biomarkers to study the fate of primary producers in the
food web. We evaluated the effectiveness of pigment analysis in the giant aquatic isopod Saduna entomon, an important link in the food chain of the Baltic Sea. Specimens were collected on a transect across Puck Bay (Gulf of Gdansk, Poland) at stations comprising different sedimentary conditions and varying supply of micro- and macroalgal material. In laboratory experiments S. entomon was fed different kinds of prey. Different marker coinbinations were found in the intestlnal tissue, resulting
from predation on herbivorous and carnivorous species. Analyses of field samples revealed that
S. entomon, living in the sedlment surface, ingests freshly sedimented phytoplankton as well as plant detritus ß-carotene and the xanthophyll echinenone were found in the carapax and gonads,
supporting the view that these substances are assimilated and servve as antioxidant protection of lipids and other macromolecules.
Type:
Article
,
PeerReviewed
Format:
text
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