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Partitioning of the food ration of marine ciliates between pico- and nanoplankton

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Abstract

Food size-range for 13 species of Tintinnina and 18 species of Oligotrichina were studied using electronic particle counting and in situ observation of food vacuole contents. Tintinnids consume nanoplankton in the size range 2–20 μm. Oligotrichous naked ciliates consume particles in the size range 0.5–10 μm. Ciliates smaller than 30 μm take 72% picoplankton and 28% nanoplankton. For ciliates between 30 μm and 50 μm the proportions are reversed (30% pico- and 70% nanoplankton), while the larger ciliates (> 50 μm) take nanoplankton almost exclusively (95% nano- and 5% picoplankton). A seasonal study of total Oligotrichida grazing showed that natural particles were consumed at rates that varied from 1 to 20 μg C 1−1 day−1. This included between 1 and 38% of the bacterioplankton production and 9 to 52% of the nanoplankton production. In the N-W Mediterranean the total ciliate production varied from 0.4 to 8.2 μg C 1−1 day−1.

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Author notes

  1. M. Laval-Peuto

    Present address: Faculté des Sciences, Laboratoire de Protistologie Marine, Parc Valrose, 06034, Nice, France

  2. R. W. Sheldon

    Present address: Marine Ecology Laboratory, Bedford Institute of Oceangraphy, B2Y 4A2, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Station Zoologique, B.P. 28, 06230, Villefranche-sur-Mer, France

    F. Rassoulzadegan, M. Laval-Peuto & R. W. Sheldon

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  1. F. Rassoulzadegan
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Research supported by CNRS-PIROCEAN AIP-RTM-953146-GRECO P4 and by CNRS-UA 716 (FR), and by the University of Nice and by the CNRS-GRECO 88 (MLP)

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Rassoulzadegan, F., Laval-Peuto, M. & Sheldon, R.W. Partitioning of the food ration of marine ciliates between pico- and nanoplankton. Hydrobiologia 159, 75–88 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00007369

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