Consumption of bacteria by larvae of a deep-sea polychaete |
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| Authors: | Adele J Pile & Craig M Young |
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| Institution: | Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, Fort Pierce, FL, USA; School of Biological Sciences (A08), University of Sydney, Sydney New South Wales, Australia; Oregon Institute of Marine Biology, 63466 Boat Basin Drive Charleston, OR, USA |
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| Abstract: | We investigated whether trochophore larvae of the polychaete Hesiocaeca methanicola, which lives on exposed ice‐like methane hydrates between 500 and 600 m, could consume near‐bottom picoplankton. In laboratory trials larvae significantly reduced the growth rates of all types of picoplankton, including heterotrophic bacteria, Prochlorococcus sp., Synechococcus‐type cyanobacteria and phototrophic eucaryotes <3 μm. Our findings suggest that these types of plankton may be important food sources for deep‐sea planktotrophic larvae. |
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| Keywords: | Bacteria cyanobacteria diet larval feeding picoplankton trochophore |
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