Do. Duggins et Je. Eckman, IS KELP DETRITUS A GOOD FOOD FOR SUSPENSION FEEDERS - EFFECTS OF KELPSPECIES, AGE AND SECONDARY METABOLITES, Marine Biology, 128(3), 1997, pp. 489-495
The food quality of detrital particles derived from three species of k
elps was. evaluated in a laboratory feeding experiment utilizing two s
pecies of suspension feeders, the serpulid polychaete Pseudochitanopom
a occidentalis and the mussel Mytilus trossulus. Fresh and aged kelp p
articles were also evaluated, and growth in all treatments was compare
d to growth on ad libidum phytoplankton rations. Fresh particles from
Laminaria groenlandica, aged particles from Agarum fimbriatum and Alar
ia marginata, and mixed phytoplankton promoted the highest growth rate
s in both consumers. Growth was inversely related to total polyphenoli
c concentration in the fresh kelp particles. The increase in quality o
f both Agarum fimbriatum and Alaria marginata particles with age corre
sponded with a rapid loss of polyphenolic secondary metabolites and an
increase in total nitrogen.