Selectivity by Dense Populations of Small Invertebrates Foraging among Seagrass Blade Surfaces

Abstract

Current information on feeding habits of the numerous small invertebrates concentrated among seagrass blades has been inadequate to predict basic food requirements, natural influences of these crowded animals on their shared foods, or the animals’ resulting influences on each other. Apparently detrital food webs in seagrass meadows are reported frequently, but recent data from various seagrass meadows and other environments indicate that such detritus is often refractory to digestion by microorganisms and small invertebrates. A summary of literature on natural feeding habits among common seagrass meadow invertebrates, and detailed analyses of foraging by the commonest invertebrates in NW Gulf of Mexico seagrass meadows, show various degrees of feeding selectivity for epiphytic algae. Different species of epiphytes progressing along a seagrass blade can provide a gradient of food types and abundance for detailed studies on selective feeding.