FN Archimer Export Format
PT J
TI Ingestion of a bacterivorous ciliate by the oyster Crassostrea gigas: Protozoa as a trophic link between picoplankton and benthic suspension-feeders
BT 
AF LE GALL, Solange
   BEL HASSEN, Malika
   LE GALL, Pierre
AS 1:1,2;2:1;3:3;
FF 1:;2:;3:;
C1 IFREMER, CNRS, CREMA, BP 5, F-17137 LHOUMEAU, FRANCE.
   CNRS, FRANCE
   UNIV LA ROCHELLE, LBBM, F-17042 LA ROCHELLE, FRANCE.
C2 IFREMER, FRANCE
   CNRS, FRANCE
   UNIV LA ROCHELLE, FRANCE
IN WOS Ifremer jusqu'en 2018
IF 1.928
TC 53
UR https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00337/44788/44482.pdf
LA English
DT Article
DE ;oyster;food sources;picoplankton;protozoa;trophic link
AB The linked concepts of 'microbial loop' and 'protozoan trophic link' have been very well documented in filter-feeding microzooplankton such as copepods, but have not been applied to energy transfer to benthic suspension-feeding macrofauna, with the exception of the recent demonstration of heterotrophic flagellate assimilation by mussels. The oyster Crassostrea gigas obtains energy resources by filtering microalgae (similar to 5 to 100 mu m). However, in turbid estuaries, light-limited phytoplanktonic production cannot entirely account for oyster energy requirements. Conversely, picoplankters (<2 mu m), which are main effecters of coastal energy flow and matter cycling, are not efficiently retained by oyster filtration. Ciliate protozoal as both micro-sized cells (similar to 5 to 100 run) and bacteria grazers, may represent a major intermediary in trophic transfer between picoplankton and metazoa. The ciliate Uronema was intensely cultured and labelled, using the cyanobacteria Synechococcus as an auto-fluorescent biomarker. The labelled ciliates were offered as potential prey to oysters. We report here the first experimental evidence of a significant retention and ingestion of ciliates by oysters, supporting the role of protozoa as a realistic trophic link between picoplankters and filter-feeding bivalves and thus enhancing their potential importance in estuarine microbial food webs.
PY 1997
SO Marine Ecology Progress Series
SN 0171-8630
PU Inter-research
VL 152
IS 1-3
UT A1997XK65100027
BP 301
EP 306
DI 10.3354/meps152301
ID 44788
ER

EF