Development of novel techniques for evaluating the feeding rate of Limnoria lignorum with specific reference to temperature influences
IRG/WP 99-10325
A Praël, S M Cragg, R A Eaton
The faecal pellet production of Limnoria lignorum placed into repli-dish chambers containing seawater and a small chip of untreated Corsican pine (Pinus nigra) was observed. The repli-dishes were kept at a range of constant temperatures between 10 and 25°C and the number of faecal pellets produced by each of the animals was monitored. It was found that faecal pellet length generally increased with gut length and that temperature had no effect on the faecal pellet length. There was considerable variation in faecal pellet production rates, both from day to day for any particular animal and from animal to animal. Faecal pellet production rate was generally highest between 15 and 21°C and decreased above 22°C. The production of faecal pellets tended to decrease during moulting. Gut passages per day increased from 1.1 at 13°C to 3.4 at 21°C followed by a decrease to 1.6 at 25°C.