Dietary preferences and diet effects on life-history traits of tardigrades

Abstract Tardigrades may be divided into the following feeding groups: herbivores, carnivores and omnivores. However, little is known about their specific feeding preferences. Here, we used a number of laboratory experiments with 18 potential food sources, representing a wide variety of organisms, t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Zoological journal of the Linnean Society 2020-03, Vol.188 (3), p.865-877
Main Authors: Bryndová, Michala, Stec, Daniel, Schill, Ralph O, Michalczyk, Łukasz, Devetter, Miloslav
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adults
Age groups
Algae
Carnivores
Carnivorous animals
Content analysis
Cyanobacteria
Fecundity
Feeding
Feeding behavior
Feeding preferences
Food
Food sources
Foods
Fungi
Herbivores
Juveniles
Life history
Microorganisms
Omnivores
Prey
Survival
Tardigrada
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Summary:Abstract Tardigrades may be divided into the following feeding groups: herbivores, carnivores and omnivores. However, little is known about their specific feeding preferences. Here, we used a number of laboratory experiments with 18 potential food sources, representing a wide variety of organisms, to test feeding preferences, survival and fecundity of three tardigrade species, representing different feeding modes. We also tested for differences in preferences between juveniles and adults, and differences in survival between two age groups: one that started the experiment as juveniles and the other as adults. In our experiments, Milnesium inceptum is confirmed to be a carnivore, being able to reproduce only on animal prey. We also show that Hypsibius exemplaris is a herbivore, feeding on cyanobacteria, algae and fungi. Paramacrobiotus fairbanksi, on the other hand, is demonstrated to be an omnivore, feeding on cyanobacteria, algae, fungi and animals. In some cases, juveniles preferred different types of food than adults. Reproduction was strongly affected by food type. Finally, we demonstrate that tardigrades may ingest food types that they are not able to digest. Thus, gut content analysis may be misleading as a method of studying tardigrade feeding habits.
ISSN:0024-4082
1096-3642
DOI:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlz146