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Feeding Modes Of Larvae Of Nematostella Vectensis (Cnidaria: Anthozoa), Amanda Kehr Smith '13, William Jaeckle

Students' Professional Presentations and Publications

We assessed the ability of larvae of the starlet sea anemone, Nematostella vectensis, to assimilate dissolved organic material (DOM) and ingest artificial and natural particles from seawater. Planulae were exposed to the proteins ferritin and labeled bovine serum albumin (FITC-BSA) and the polysaccharides iron dextran and labeled dextran (FITC-dextran) at solute concentrations between 0.25-1.0 mg/mL for 1-5 hours at 22°C. Other larvae were incubated with polystyrene beads (0.5 μm, 106 beads/mL and 4.5 μm and 6 μm, 103 beads/mL) or with algal cells (Dunaliella tertiolecta, 5 ' 103 cells/mL) for 2.5-5 h. The label from all provided macromolecules …