Use of detrital foods and assimilation of nitrogen by coastal detritivores

Two killifish common in east coast U.S.A. salt marshes,Cyprinodon variegatus Lacepede andFundulus heteroclitus Walbaum, differ in their ability to assimilate nitrogen from and grow on detritus.C. variegatus grew on a diet of detritus ofSpartina alterniflora Loisel, whileF. heteroclitus did not. In addition, when the fish were fed¹⁵N-labeledS. alterniflora detritus,¹⁵N:¹⁴N ratios inC. variegatus were higher than were ratios inF. heteroclitus. Therefore, even though both species ingest large amounts of detritus,C. variegatus makes more effective use of this portion of its diet. These dietary differences are corroborated by anatomical differences that suggest thatC. variegatus should make better use of detrital or plant tissues thanF. heteroclitus. In the label experiment, the degree of label in both fish was directly proportional to the degree of label in the food treatments. In previously published experiments designed to compare plant substrate with attached microbes as nitrogen sources for detritivores, %¹⁵N incorporated by a polychaete was also directly proportional to %¹⁵N in the detrital food. Therefore, it is difficult to distinguish between plant substrate and microbes as nitrogen sources for this detritivore.