Main Content

The World of Protozoa, Rotifera, Nematoda and Oligochaeta

Ref ID : 2106

Adolfo Felix, Margaret E. Stevens, and Robert Lee Wallace; Unpalatability of a colonial rotifer, Sinantherina socialis, to small zooplanktivorous fishes. Invertebrate Biology 114(2):139-144, 1995

Reprint

In File

Notes

Colonies of Sinantherina socialis (phylum Rotifera) form conspicuous masses that should make then extremely vulnerable to fishes capable of ingesting small live prey (<3 mm in length). To test this hypothesis we offered rotifer colonies as prey to 14 species of small-mounted, predatory fishes, alternating with small cladocerans. Most rotifer colonies (71-100%), but few cladocerans (0-14%) were rejected after capture. Fish feeding behavior on rotifers followed a consistent pattern: locate, approach, attack, mouth repeatedly, and reject (spit out). Except for loss of a few individuals, rotifer colonies that had been repeatedly rejected remained undamaged. This is the first evidence for unpalatability of rotifers to zooplanktivorous fishes.