Abstract
The mud snail, Nassarius obsoletus Say, occupies the intertidal mud flat area of the salt marsh ecosystem at Sapelo Island, Georgia, and is classed as a detritovore. The three principal carbon resources available for ingestion by the intertidal population are Spartina alterniflora Loisel derived carbon (plant detritus), microbial carbon (bacteria), and benthic algae (primarily pennate diatoms). Uptake studies using 14C labeled substrates indicated that the structural carbohydrate fraction (crude fibre) of the plant detritus was not assimilable. Uptake and retention of 14C by N. obsoletus occurred only on microbial and algal labeled substrates. Extrapolating the calculated short term uptake and retention rates to a daily basis for these two carbon resources, total incorporation would balance a daily body carbon loss of 5 to 6%. There was evidence from the uptake studies that N. obsoletus functions more as a “grazer” on the mud flat area than a strict detritovore. Label uptake was approximately 2.3 times greater on the algal substrate than the microbial and ingestion significantly reduced algal standing crop in the experimental cores. Net carbon retention efficiency for both substrates was 46%.
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