Experimental studies of food ingestion and assimilation of the soldier crab, Mictyris longicarpus Latreille (Decapoda, Mictyridae)

Abstract

Mictyris longicarpus Latreille removed significant amounts of organic material during surface-feeding and during hummocking. The percentage of organic material removed averaged 3.7 and 7.7 while feeding on the surface and 7.2 and 5.0 while feeding during hummocking for nitrogen and carbon, respectively. The amount of inorganic material ingested was found to be dependent on the physical nature of the substratum. It was estimated that during surface-feeding, M. longicarpus ingested 0.234 mg for every g of substratum sorted. Bacterial carbon represented 10% of organic carbon in the substratum and 35% of organic carbon in the proventriculus whereas algal carbon represented 10% and 1% of organic carbon in the substratum and proventriculus, respectively. M. longicarpus had a high assimilation efficiency varying from 86.9 to 93.8%.