Ref ID : 786
Patricia C. Mackeen and Robert B. Mitchell; Prey-capture capacity in the suctorian protozoon Tokophrya lemnarum Stein. Trans.Amer.Micros.Soc. 96(1):68-75, 1977
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The sessile suctorian Tokophrya lemnarum feeds on motile ciliates such as Tetrahymena and Paramecium which are captured on random collision with its tentacle tips. If T. lemnarum are subjected to a feeding of Tetrahymena pyriformis that recruits most tentacles, there is a decrease in prey-capture capacity immediately thereafter. Over the ensuing 6-hr period there occurs a partial recovery which proceeds rapidly at the outset and plateaus by 5 hr. This plateau is short of the original prey-capture capacity, a result related to post-feeding decrease in tentacle numbers through retraction. The decrease is temporary, however, since by 48 hr post-feeding the tentacle numbers and mean prey-adherence capacity have returned to their pre-feeding levels. If young, previously unfed T. lemnarum are subjected to 6-hr feedings throughout a 24-hr period, the maximum number of Tetrahymena they can capture is on the order of 20.