Mesacanthion diplechma (Nematoda: Thoracostomopsidae), a link to higher trophic levels?
In: Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. Cambridge University Press/Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom: Cambridge. ISSN 0025-3154; e-ISSN 1469-7769, more
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| Abstract |
The nematode Mesacanthion diplechma Southern is relatively rare in sediments of the Southern Bight of the North Sea and the Dutch Delta. Strangely, it is about the only free-living nematode found in the stomachs of the sand goby Pomatoschistus minutus Pallas from the same general area and even more peculiarly several hundred animals were found in sand gobies from the central part of the Oosterschelde. The large size of the nematode and its preference for the superficial sediment layers are probable causes for the first observation. For the second observation there is at present no explanation that can be substantiated. Some nematodes are known to aggregate on dead animals and possibly the Oosterschelde gobies may have been feeding on such an aggregation. |
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