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Title: Prey taxonomy rather than size determines salp diets
Abstract

Salps are gelatinous planktonic suspension feeders that filter large volumes of water in the food‐dilute open ocean. Their life cycle allows periodic exponential growth and population blooms. Dense swarms of salps have a high grazing impact that can deplete the photic zone of phytoplankton and export huge quantities of organic matter to the deep sea. Previous studies described their feeding manner as mostly nonselective, with larger particles retained at higher efficiencies than small particles. To examine salp diets, we used direct in situ sampling (InEx method) of undisturbed solitarySalpa maxima. Aggregates (“chains”) ofSalpa fusiformisandThalia democraticawere studied using in situ incubations. Our findings suggest that in situ feeding rates are higher than previously reported and that cell removal is size independent with ∼ 1μm picoeukaryotes preferentially removed over both larger eukaryotes and smaller bacteria. The prey : predator size ratios we measured (1 : 104–1 : 105) are an order of magnitude smaller than previously reported values and to the best of our knowledge, are the smallest values reported so far for any planktonic suspension feeders. Despite differences among the three species studied, they had similar prey preferences with no correlation between salp body length and prey size. Our findings shed new light on prey : predator relationships in planktonic systems—in particular, that factors other than size influence filtration efficiency—and suggest that in situ techniques should be devised and applied for the study of suspension feeding in the ocean.

 
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NSF-PAR ID:
10371543
Author(s) / Creator(s):
 ;  ;  ;  ;  
Publisher / Repository:
Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Limnology and Oceanography
Volume:
64
Issue:
5
ISSN:
0024-3590
Page Range / eLocation ID:
p. 1996-2010
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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