Feeding ecology and diet

Abstract

The kind of food eaten, the ability to obtain food and how efficiently ingested nutrients are processed and assimilated will influence many key features of an organism’s life history, including growth rate, reproduction and its role in the ecosystem. The aim of this chapter is to summarize the known aspects of diet, feeding mode and digestive physiology (except digestive enzyme flexibility associated to salinity changes, which is addressed in chapter 21), feeding activity related to environmental factors,ontogeny of feeding, and the effect of nutritional restrictions on the growth and reproduction of Neohelice granulata.