Feeding and gut structure of <i>Parathemisto gaudichaudi</i> (Guerin) (Amphipoda, Hyperiidea)

Abstract

Previous (workers who have examined the gut contents of members of the genus Parathemisto , and who have kept and fed specimens in laboratory conditions, have concluded that they are chiefly carnivorous in habit, feeding largely on zooplankton, and to a lesser extent on phytoplankton (Conover, 1960; Baker, 1963; Kane, 1967). The gut of P. gaudichaudi has been found to contain almost intact copepods, especially Calanus and occasionally Temora (Bigelow, 1926 – Gulf of Maine); young specimens of Euphausia superba (Hardy &amp; Gunther, 1935 – Antarctic); and copepods (Nemoto &amp; Yoo, 1970). Siegfried (1965 – west coast of S. Africa) found P. gaudichaudi to be a rather indiscriminate feeder, its gut contents reflecting the composition of the plankton.