Abstract

Feeding behaviour of the manila clam Ruditapes philippinarum was qualitatively and quantitatively characterized by comparing the contents composition in digestive tract of the clam and the phytoplankton community in surface sea water in Gomso Bay, west coast of Korea. The contents of digestive tract comprised diatoms (71.5%), dinoflagellates (13.1%), nannoplankton (6.6%), and detritus including mesozooplankton. The abundance of food organisms in digestive tract of the clam was high in winter and spring, while low in summer and autumn. But The biomass of phytoplankton in surface sea water revealed the highest value in autumn. Also, the larger the clam size increases the abundance of food organisms in digestive tract. The dominant species in digestive tract were Paralia sulcata and Navicula arenaria such as benthic diatoms and dinoflagellate cysts, whereas the dominant species in surface sea water were Chaetoceros, Skeletonema, Asterionellopsis such as pelagic diatoms in genus, cryptomonads, and P. sulcata. Analyses of digestive tract revealed that benthic diatoms especially represent an important constituent of food organisms in the malina clam and different of phytoplankton size and morphology explain preference for food selectivity.