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The World of Protozoa, Rotifera, Nematoda and Oligochaeta

Ref ID : 1015

Kenneth G. Bogdan, John J. Gilbert, and Peter L. Starkweather; In situ clearance rates of planktonic rotifers. Hydrobiologia 73:73-77, 1980

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The in situ clearance rates of several rotifer species from a small, temperate eutrophic lake were measured using three radioactive tracer cell-types, a bacterium (Aerobacter), a yeast (Rhodotorula), and alga (Chlamydomonas). Rates were below 10 ul/anim./hr but varied significantly among species. Keratella cochlearis, Kellicottia bostoniensis, and Conochilus dossuarius ingested all three tracer cells but rates varied substantially with tracer cell-type. Polyarthra dolichoptera and P. euryptera ingested only the algal cells. Co-occurring forms of K. cochlearis and species of Polyarthra differed markedly in size and in tracer cell utilization, indicating niche diversification in food resources.