Feeding experiments with bbacteria, ciliates and harpacticoid copepods

Many benthic ciliates are known to feed upon bacteria in the marine environment. These may in turn be utilized as food by harpacticoid copepods which graze upon them. Simple non-tracer feeding experiments were carried out in the laboratory with various representatives of these organisms. The growth rates of the ciliate Uronema sp. with different species of bacteria as food, including oil-degrading bacteria, were compared. Results of feeding experiments with the harpacticoid copepod Tisbe holothuriae fed on Uronema sp. show an uptake rate of 12-192 ciliates copepod-1 h-1. The ecological implications are discussed