Premium
Efficiencies of ingestion and assimilation by an invertebrate predator using C and P dual isotope labeling
Author(s) -
Lehman John T.
Publication year - 1993
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.1993.38.7.1550
Subject(s) - predator , assimilation (phonology) , predation , ingestion , biology , invertebrate , zooplankton , cladocera , branchiopoda , ecology , zoology , philosophy , linguistics , biochemistry
Daphnia rosea was uniformly labeled with both 14 C and 33 P, then offered as prey to Bythotrephes cederstroemi Schoedler, a nonindigenous predatory cladoceran which has become established in the Laurentian Great Lakes. Both C and P from the prey were ingested with equal efficiency (58–59%, SE = 2%) by Bythotrephes and retained with equal efficiency over the next 12 h. Feeding behavior by the predator involves a fastidious process of shredding and discard of exoskeletal material and selective ingestion of soft tissue. Most of the ingested matter is consequently digested; assimilation efficiency is 85% (SE = 2%).