Sedimenting phytoplankton as major food source for suspension and deposit feeders in the Øresund

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Abstract
The chlorophyll and phaeopigment content of the sediment, and in Abra nitida, Nuculoma tenuis, Chlamys opercularis (Mollusca, Bivalvia) and Anobothrus gracilis (Annelida, Polychaeta) from a depth of 30 m in the Øresund, Denmark, was measured together with seasonal changes in weight and reproduction of the animals. Sedimentation from the spring phytoplankton bloom was the main regulating factor for weight increases and development of reproductive tissue of the bottom invertebrates, including deposit feeders, and the importance of bacteria/detritus for these is questioned. The sedimenting phytoplankton was successively exploited by species feeding from the water, from the sediment surface, and from below the sediment surface. Compared to deposit feeders, suspension feeders had only a short period available for exploiting the sedimenting material. The results are compared with similar results from the Clyde Sea, Great Britain, and seem to be valid in those neritic sediment communities of the temperate zone, which are not exposed to light.