Limited feeding on bacteria by two intertidal benthic copepod species as revealed by trophic biomarkers.

Harpacticoids can discriminate between biofilms of different bacterial strains. We investigated whether assimilation of bacteria is selective and whether harpacticoids select for the most nutritional bacteria. We specifically focused on the role of bacterial characteristics in copepod food selection.

Bacterial colonization on fecal pellets of harpacticoid copepods and on their diatom food.

Fecal pellets make up a significant fraction of the global flux of organic matter in oceans, and the associated bacterial communities in particular are a potential food source for marine organisms. However, these communities remain largely unknown. In the present study, the bacterial communities on fecal pellets of the benthic copepod Paramphiascella fulvofasciata feeding on the diatoms Navicula phyllepta and Seminavis robusta were analyzed.