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Herbivory in small carnivores: benthic hydroids as an example

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 December 2008

Josep-Maria Gili ,
Alicia Duró ,
Josep García-Valero ,
Josep M. Gasol  and
Sergio Rossi
Josep-Maria Gili*
Affiliation:
Institut de Ciències del Mar (CSIC), Passeig Maritim de la Barceloneta 37–49, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
Alicia Duró
Affiliation:
Institut de Ciències del Mar (CSIC), Passeig Maritim de la Barceloneta 37–49, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
Josep García-Valero
Affiliation:
Facultat de Biología, Universitat de Barcelona, avinguda Diagonal 645, 08028, Spain
Josep M. Gasol
Affiliation:
Institut de Ciències del Mar (CSIC), Passeig Maritim de la Barceloneta 37–49, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
Sergio Rossi
Affiliation:
Institut de Ciència i Technologià Ambientals ICTA, UAB, Campus Cn s/n, Cerdanyola del Vallés 08193, Barcelona, Spain
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: J.-M. Gili, Institut de Ciències del Mar (CSIC), Passeig Maritim de la Barceloneta 37–49, 08003 Barcelona, Spain email: gili@icm.csic.es
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Abstract

Previous evidence has shown that benthic hydroids capture all kinds of available prey and the only known constraint was prey size. Among the prey captured are phytoplankton cells but it is not known whether they are digested and assimilated. To test the hypothesis that benthic hydroids assimilate phytoplankton cells, a series of feeding experiments was carried out with the Mediterranean species Eudendrium racemosum. Ingestion rates and assimilation efficiency were determined by analysing the 14C incorporated from a labelled population of the diatom species Thalassiosira weissflogii. Eudendrium racemosum fed on T. weissflogii, after a period of starvation, and with the diatoms as the sole food item. In the presence of approximately 15,000 diatoms ml−1, Eudendrium fed at rates ranging from 16 to 55 diatoms polyp−1 hour−1. Accumulation of radioactivity in the hydrocaulus and the polyps of the hydroids were observed. A maximum ingestion of 31.6 diatoms per μgC of polyp (i.e. 175 diatoms per polyp) was observed in the experiments. Most of the diatom 14C ingested would have ended up in the Eudendrium tissue (efficiency 94%), and it was expected that a certain percentage would have been respired by the polyps. These data show that Eudendrium feed on phytoplankton, which can satisfy almost 100% of their energy demand when this type of food is sufficiently abundant.

Keywords

benthic hydroidsfeedingintracellular digestionassimilationherbivory
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 88 , Special Issue 8: Hydrozoans , December 2008 , pp. 1541 - 1546
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2008

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