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Feeding ecology ofBranchinecta gaini (crustacea: Anostraca) in ponds of south Shetland Islands, Antarctica

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Abstract

The feeding habits and food selectivity ofBranchinecta gaini were studied in six ponds on an Antarctic island.B. gaini behaves as a detritovorous, herbivorous filter-feeder, feeding largely on organic sediments and bottom communities. The bulk of the gut contents were formed from amorphous organic material presumably of vegetal origin, and a great variety of organisms from algae to remains of larval stages of Diptera. Filamentous algae were negatively selected but hyphae and spores, as well as remains ofB. gaini, were positively selected.

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Paggi, J.C. Feeding ecology ofBranchinecta gaini (crustacea: Anostraca) in ponds of south Shetland Islands, Antarctica. Polar Biol 16, 13–18 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02388730

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02388730

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