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Relation between particle size selection and clearance in suspension‐feeding ciliates
Author(s) -
Fenchel Tom
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
limnology and oceanography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.7
H-Index - 197
eISSN - 1939-5590
pISSN - 0024-3590
DOI - 10.4319/lo.1980.25.4.0733
Subject(s) - suspension (topology) , clearance rate , particle (ecology) , particle size , filtration (mathematics) , biology , sedimentation , biophysics , ecology , paleontology , statistics , mathematics , homotopy , sediment , pure mathematics , endocrinology
Suspension‐feeding, ciliated protozoans retain particles by sieving the feeding currents through ciliary organelles and show well‐defined size spectra with respect to the particles retained and ingested. When different species of ciliates are compared, clearance is correlated with the particle size most efficiently retained. Thus, species specialized on particles of bacterial dimensions (0.2–1 µ m) have a strongly reduced clearance, due to a decreased rate of water propulsion through the filter, from that of species specialized on larger food particles. It is suggested that this is related to the increased resistance to water flow in filters with a decreasing porosity, since cilia can only generate a small hydrostatic pressure. Ciliary suspension feeders specialized on small particles have relatively high requirements with respect to the minimum food particle concentration; they could not maintain populations at bacterial concentrations typical of offshore waters.