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Turtle grass and other seagrasses form meadows which are important habitats and feeding grounds. Associated seagrass species include Halophila engelmannii and Syringodium filiforme. Many epiphytes grow on the grasses, and algae, diatoms and bacterial films cover the surface of the leaf blades.
Few species were originally considered to feed directly on seagrass leaves (partly because of their low nutritional content), but scientific reviews and improved working methods have shown that seagrass herbivory is an important link in the food chain, feeding hundreds of species, including green turtles, dugongs, manatees, fish, geese, swans ...
Green sea turtle grazing on seagrass Many small selective herbivores follow larger grazers which skim off the highest, tough growth of grasses, exposing tender shoots. For terrestrial animals, grazing is normally distinguished from browsing in that grazing is eating grass or forbs , whereas browsing is eating woody twigs and leaves from trees ...
Green sea turtle grazing on seagrass. The diet of green turtles changes with age. [68] Juveniles are carnivorous, but as they mature they become omnivorous. [69] Young sea turtles eat fish and their eggs, sea hare eggs, hydrozoans, bryozoans, molluscs, jellyfish, small invertebrates, echinoderms, tunicates, insects, worms, sponges, algae, sea ...
Declines in the duration and extent of sea ice in the Arctic leads to declines in the abundance of ice algae, which thrive in nutrient-rich pockets in the ice. These algae are eaten by zooplankton, which are in turn eaten by Arctic cod, an important food source for many marine mammals, including seals. Seals are eaten by polar bears.
Halophila is the only genus of seagrass that lacks basal sheaths on the leaf stems. Halophila decipiens has thin rhizomes that run along near the surface of sand or mud, with a root at each node to anchor the plant in place. The almost stemless leaves grow in pairs from the nodes with a pair of scales at their base.
In common with other Strombidae, [21] Aliger gigas is a specialized herbivore, [34] that feeds on macroalgae (including red algae, such as species of Gracilaria and Hypnea), [42] seagrass [36] and unicellular algae, intermittently also feeding on algal detritus. [64] [65] The green macroalgae Batophora oerstedii is one of its preferred foods. [37]
Dulse is one of many edible algae. Algaculture may become an important part of a healthy and sustainable food system [11]. Several species of algae are raised for food. While algae have qualities of a sustainable food source, "producing highly digestible proteins, lipids, and carbohydrates, and are rich in essential fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals" and e.g. having a high protein ...