The feeding ecology of deep-sea copepods has been presumed by the functional morphologic research that observe the organ and the mouth parts of copepod in detail. There is a close relationship between the structure of the mouth parts and the feeding habits of copepods. Compared with the coastal and epipelagic copepods, deep-sea copepods have developed a variety of feeding mechanisms. Most deep-sea copepods are either detritivores or carnivores. Some species of detoritivores have improved their foraging ability by the development of specialized chemo-sensory setae on their mouth parts. On the other hand, some species of carnivorous copepods have developed an injectable anesthetic substance in their mandible or use mucus produced in the oral cavity to capture and immobilize prey. In other carnivorous species, there are specialized structures on the setae of mouth parts to firmly grasp prey. The specialization of the mouth parts in the detoritivores and carnivores seems to be an adaptive strategy in oligotrophic deep-sea environments. (author abst.)
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.