Zooplankton Particle Selection and Feeding Mechanisms

This chapter focuses on feeding mechanisms of suspension-feeding zooplankton with a reference to narrative because feeding mechanisms have played a central role and will continue to play a central role in the ecological stories we tell about aquatic communities. It argues that the goal of research on feeding mechanisms is the development of mathematical models that predict the feeding rate of zooplankton on all the particles in nature and their subsequent utilization by the zooplankter. A great many copepods, especially those with strong herbivorous tendencies, move very slowly and create a strong double shear current in which they detect and capture particles. Food quality is an important controlling variable that appears at each component of predation. The combination of physical and olfactory cues for distance perception and taste before ingestion implies that the copepod has a sophisticated two-step process that encourages ingestion of large, high-quality food.