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The World of Protozoa, Rotifera, Nematoda and Oligochaeta

Ref ID : 7190

K. Romeyn and L.A. Bouwman; Food Selection and Consumption by Estuarine Nematodes. Hydrobiological Bulletin 17(2):103-109, 1983

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The feeding strategies and feeding techniques of 12 nematode species, isolated from the Ems-Dollard estuary, were investigated in agar cultures. In the consumption of bacteria, algae, diatoms, protozoa and small metazoa, two main strategies are distinguished: the non-selective strategy, characteristics of species living on the surface of macrophytes, and the selective strategy, characteristic sediment-inhabiting species. The selective strategists showed various ingestion techniques, depending on the size and armature of the buccal cavity; food items could be ingested whole, or pierced or cracked and the contents sucked out.