Premium
Consumption of bacteria by larvae of a deep‐sea polychaete
Author(s) -
Pile Adele J.,
Young Craig M.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
marine ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.668
H-Index - 58
eISSN - 1439-0485
pISSN - 0173-9565
DOI - 10.1111/j.1439-0485.2006.00084.x
Subject(s) - picoplankton , polychaete , biology , cyanobacteria , phototroph , synechococcus , plankton , larva , ecology , prochlorococcus , bacteria , oceanography , paleontology , geology
We investigated whether trochophore larvae of the polychaete Hesiocaeca methanicola , which lives on exposed ice‐like methane hydrates between 500 and 600 m, could consume near‐bottom picoplankton. In laboratory trials larvae significantly reduced the growth rates of all types of picoplankton, including heterotrophic bacteria, Prochlorococcus sp., Synechococcus ‐type cyanobacteria and phototrophic eucaryotes <3 μ m. Our findings suggest that these types of plankton may be important food sources for deep‐sea planktotrophic larvae.