Benthic Pond Macroinvertebrates Coexist with Nearby Potentially Predatory Fish.

AbstractIn ponds of the northeastern United States, benthic macroinvertebrates can dominate the local biomass. Isopods, predatory leeches, and fingernail clams can attain dense populations and suffer heavy predation pressure by fish. We predicted that pond benthic macroinvertebrates would recognize the proximity of predatory fish and avoid or vacate that area as an inducible behavioral defense.

Host-specific performance and host use in the kleptoparasitic marine snail Trichotropis cancellata.

Generalist parasites may disproportionately use certain hosts because of different benefits associated with each host species. I measured the growth rate of the marine snail Trichotropis cancellata, a facultative kleptoparasite that can suspension feed and steal food, on different hosts to determine the relative nutritional benefits of each host. The variation in tentacle (feeding structure) area among the hosts studied had the potential to provide parasitic snails with different amounts of nutrition for growth.