Characteristic feeding methods
| Feeding type | sub-type | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| Non-feeding | Non-feeding (e.g. a short-lived adult that only involved in mating, or lecithotrophic life stages). | |
| Autotroph | Self-feeding. An organism capable of synthesizing complex organic substances from simple inorganic substrates (Lincoln et al., 1998). | |
| Deposit feeder Any organism which feeds on fragmented particulate organic matter from the substratum (from Lincoln, et al., 1998) |
Surface | An organism that feeds on fragmented particulate organic matter on the surface of the substratum (e.g. Corophium volutator) (adapted from Lincoln et al., 1998). |
| Sub-surface | An organism that feeds on fragmented particulate organic matter within the substratum (e.g. Echinocardium cordatum) (adapted from Lincoln et al., 1998). | |
| Suspension feeder Any organism which feeds on particulate organic matter, including plankton, suspended in the water column (from Lincoln et al., 1998). |
Passive | Catching food on a filter held into flowing water (e.g. hydroids, sea fans, sea pens), or collecting the 'rain' of detritus on sticky apparatus other than a filter (e.g. tentacles of Cucumaria frondosa, proboscis of echinurans) (MarLIN; Hiscock et al., 1999). |
| Active | Catching food on a filter from water by actively sweeping (e.g. Porcellana platychelyes) or pumping (e.g. sea squirts, many bivalve molluscs) or creating a localised current (e.g. copepods, bryozoa etc) (MarLIN; Hiscock et al., 1999). | |
| Grazer Feeding on herbage, algae or phytoplankton by consuming the whole plant or the surface growth (Lincoln et al., 1998). |
Grazer (fonds/blades) | Animals which rasp benthic algae (or sessile animals, such as bryozoan crusts) from the surface of macroalgal fronds and blades (MarLIN; Hiscock et al., 1999). |
| Grazer (grains/particles) | Animals which rasp benthic algae (or sessile animals, such as bryozoan crusts) from inorganic particles e.g. sand grains (MarLIN; Hiscock et al., 1999). | |
| Grazer (surface/substratum) | Animals which rasp benthic algae (or sessile animals, such as bryozoan crusts) from the substratum (MarLIN; Hiscock et al., 1999). | |
| Browser | Feeding on parts of plants (e.g. shoots, leaves, twigs) or parts of other organsims (e.g. siphon nipping by fish). (Lincoln et al., 1998). | |
| Parasitic An organism that is intimately associated with, and metabolically dependant on another living organism, for completion of its life cycle, and which is detrimental to the host to a lesser or greater extent. |
Ectoparasitic | Parasitic on the outer surface of its host (adapted from Lincoln et al., 1998). |
| Endoparasitic | Parasitic witihn the tissues or organs of its host. | |
| Kleptoparasitic | In which the female of one species steals the food researves or prey of a female of another species, to feed her own progeny (Lincoln et al. 1998). | |
| Scavenger | An organism that feeds on carron and organic refuse (e.g. crabs, whelks) (Lincoln et al., 1998). | |
| Predator | Predatory behaviour in which one animal species captures a member of another species (Lincoln et al. 1998) OR mobile animals that attack kill and consume individual prey items, usually one at a time . | |
References
- Barnes, R.S.K., Calow, P. & Olive, P.J.W., 1993. The invertebrates: a new synthesis. Oxford: Blackwell Science Ltd.
- Lincoln, R., Boxshall, G. & Clark, P., 1998. A dictionary of ecology, evolution and systematics (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University of Press.
