Diet elucidation: Supplementary inferences from mysid feeding appendage morphology

Abstract

Scanning electron microscope investigations were made of the mandibles, feeding baskets and gut armatures of Mesopodopsis slabberi and Gastrosaccus psammodytes collected in Algoa Bay, southern Africa. Comparison of the structure of the feeding appendages of these two marine mysid species allows dietary inferences supplementing data derived from gut content analyses. Both species occur in abundance in the surf zone off sandy beaches where they contribute significantly to energy transfer through the food web.