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Phosphorus uptake by Microcystis during passage through fish guts
Author(s) -
Lewin Wolf-Christian,
Kamjunke Norbert,
Mehner Thomas
Publication year - 2003
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.2003.48.6.2392
Subject(s) - microcystis , cyanobacteria , biology , phosphorus , fish <actinopterygii> , nutrient , mucilage , microcystis aeruginosa , digestion (alchemy) , botany , ecology , zoology , chemistry , fishery , bacteria , genetics , organic chemistry , chromatography
Herbivorous fish feed on cyanobacteria. Digestability differs, however, between cyanobacteria species without mucous cover and mucilaginous genera such as Microcystis . The latter can pass fish guts almost undamaged, and it has been hypothesized that they can take up nutrients during gut passage. Here we tested whether live Microcystis , as food for juvenile roach labeled with 33 P, indeed showed higher radioactivity after gut passage as compared to gut contents in control experiments with fish fed heated Microcystis . Microcystis showed high viability after passage through roach guts, and live colonies had a significantly higher radioactivity than dead ones. We conclude that Microcystis is protected against digestion in roach guts and can directly use the phosphorus supplied in the fish guts during passage.