Abstract
Rates of food transport down the ambulacral groove of the arms and through the gut of the crinoid echinoderm C. bennetti were measured in situ on an Australian coral reef. For 10 adult crinoids, the average rate of food transport down the ambulacral grooves was 4.2 .+-. 1.0 (SD) cm min-1. For 4 of these individuals, the gut clearance time averaged 2.4 h; based on a gut length of 20 cm, the rate of passage of material through the gut was 0.14 cm min-1.