The foraging strategy of a subtidal and deep‐sea deposit feeder1

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Abstract
The ampharetid polychaete Amphicteis scaphobranchiata is a marine, surface‐deposit feeder inhabiting cohesive sediments from continental shelf depths off British Columbia to abyssal habitats off southern California. It uses a previously undescribed method of removing fecal pellets from its feeding area via an elastic (Young’s modulus = 7 MN·m‒2), mucous sling fashioned about the modified anterior median branchiae for which the species was named. This sling imparts a force of 4 × 10‒1 Pa, sufficient to yield a maximal pellet velocity of 27 cm·s‒1 and thereby to remove the pellet from the normal radius swept out by the animal’s feeding tentacles. These observations indicate that this sedentary animal’s food supply depends predominantly on the rate of sedimentation into the pit that is produced via its feeding and defecating activities, rather than on the rate of microbial regeneration or production that goes on within its feeding radius.

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