Abstract
The medusa of the scyphozoan, Aurelia aurita, is a seasonally important predator of copepodj and fish larvae in coastal waters but little is known about its grazing on mkrozooplanltton. Medusae preferen- tially remove large (£50 /un) oligotrichs and copepod nauplii from natural microzooplankton assemblages. Clearance rates for phytoplankton, tintinnids, rotifers and polychaete larvae are usually low. In feeding ex- periments in which mixtures of cultured prey were used, medusae selected small non-loricate ciliates over similar-sized algae, non-loricate ciliates over tintinnids, and large non-loricate ciliates over smaller ones. Observations of feeding medusae confirmed that post-capture selection of particles is important during microphagous feeding.
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