Functional response of the mysid "Leptomysis lingvura" to prey density

Abstract

Mysids are key components in coastal ecosystems because they are a major link in the food-chain. The relationship between mysids and their prey is essential to appreciate the role in the food-chain and also to design laboratory experiments to better represent nature. For this reason, it was decided to determine Leptomysis lingvura´s predation rate with different concentration of Artemia nauplii. The mysids were placed in bottles for 24 hours. Then the water was filtered and the Artemia counted. In this way, Leptomysis lingvura´s predation rate was determined to vary between 1.39 and 36.57 Artemia∙mysid-1∙h-1, depending of food concentration. The predation rate functional response was type III with prey size, predator size and prey density being the principal factors influencing it