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The World of Protozoa, Rotifera, Nematoda and Oligochaeta

Ref ID : 4616

John J. Gilbert; Feeding in the Rotifer Asplanchna: Behavior, Cannibalism, Selectivity, Prey Defenses, and Impact on Rotifer Communities. In: Evolution and Ecology of Zooplankton Communities, edited by W.Charles Kerfoot,The University Press of New England, 1980, p.158-172

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The recent literature is reviewed, and some new, experimental results on cannibalism and the defenses of various rotifers against Asplanchna predation are provided. The bases of active and passive selective feeding in Asplanchna are considered, and some ideas on the evolution of cannibalism in Asplanchna and the egg-carrying habit in Brachionus are presented. Asplanchna has the capacity for both functional and rapid, numerical responses to prey density and, thus, can be expected to influence the survivorship of certain prey organisms and the species structure of zooplankton communities.