FeedingGuilds: Difference between revisions
BrianNaess (talk | contribs) No edit summary |
BrianNaess (talk | contribs) No edit summary |
||
| Line 10: | Line 10: | ||
===== Herbivores===== | ===== Herbivores===== | ||
Herbivores feed | Herbivores feed primarily upon autotrophs. | ||
===== Carnivores===== | ===== Carnivores===== | ||
Carnivores feed upon other animals. | Carnivores feed upon other animals. On the reef, carnivores can feed upon other [[fish]], [[ReefInhabitants#Corals|coral]], [[ReefInhabitants#Reef_Creatures|other creatures like mollusks]], etc. | ||
===== Omnivores===== | ===== Omnivores===== | ||
| Line 19: | Line 19: | ||
===== Filter/Suspension feeders===== | ===== Filter/Suspension feeders===== | ||
Filter feeders primarily consume organic material floating in the water column. <ref name="tackett" /> | |||
===== Planktivores===== | ===== Planktivores===== | ||
Planktivores eat the small organisms (collectively known as plankton) that drift in the water column. They can herbivorous and consume primarily phytoplankton, or they can be zooplanktivores that consume suspended animals. <ref name="tackett" /> | |||
===== Opportunistic feeders===== | ===== Opportunistic feeders===== | ||
This group targets prey based on what is available at the time. Scavengers and cannibals are included in this group. <ref name="tackett" /> | |||
===== Parasites===== | ===== Parasites===== | ||
Parasites "live on or in another organism", taking their nutrition from the host organism while giving nothing in return. <ref name="tackett" /> | |||
=== Detritivores=== | === Detritivores=== | ||
Revision as of 12:46, 28 May 2013
Feeding Guilds
The "[relationship] between different organisms can be described by their trophic associations." On the most fundamental level, trophic associations describe "what an organism eats and what eats it."[1] All organisms can be divided into three different categories: producers, consumers, and decomposers. [1][2]
Autotrophs
Autotrophs are primary producers, "self-nourishing organisms capable of absorbing solar energy and photosynthetically building high-energy organic substances" [1] A classic example of an autotroph on the reef are zooxanthellae.
Heterotrophs
Heterotrophs are consumers that feed upon other organisms.
Herbivores
Herbivores feed primarily upon autotrophs.
Carnivores
Carnivores feed upon other animals. On the reef, carnivores can feed upon other fish, coral, other creatures like mollusks, etc.
Omnivores
Omnivores consume both autotrophs and other heterotrophs.
Filter/Suspension feeders
Filter feeders primarily consume organic material floating in the water column. [2]
Planktivores
Planktivores eat the small organisms (collectively known as plankton) that drift in the water column. They can herbivorous and consume primarily phytoplankton, or they can be zooplanktivores that consume suspended animals. [2]
Opportunistic feeders
This group targets prey based on what is available at the time. Scavengers and cannibals are included in this group. [2]
Parasites
Parasites "live on or in another organism", taking their nutrition from the host organism while giving nothing in return. [2]
Detritivores
Detritovores are decomposers like bacteria that feed upon the waste products and dead remains of other organisms. [1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Sumich, James L. An Introduction to the Biology of Marine Life, Seventh Edition. WCB/McGraw Hill. 1999.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Tackett, Denise and Larry. Reef Life: Natural History and Behaviors of Marine Fishes and Invertebrates. Neptune City, NJ: T.F.H Publications, 2002, p. 117-118. Print.