SUSPENSION FEEDING IN LARVAL CRABS (CARCINUS-MAENAS)

First-stage zoeal larvae of the green (shore) crab, Carcinus maenas (Crustacea: Brachyura: Portunidae), ingested three types of particles offered in sea-water suspensions. In experiments using two types of fluorescent particles (1-2 mum and 1-7 mum) and living Dunaliella tertiolecta cells (5-7 mum), particles were ingested in at least 40% of the zoeae examined with brightfield, darkfield, and epifluorescence microscopy. These results suggest that green crab larvae may be capable of utilizing planktonic particles in the size range of bacteria, small algal cells, and organically-enriched detrital particles in their natural diet.