quote:
Heaven no. The only shrimp that are carnivoruos are shrimp that eat plankton. And if I'm right, Shrimp eat phytoplankton which are infected with pollutants and infested with tinier marine animals and worms.
Sorry Specter,
Religious views aside, your knowledge of shrimp is woefully incorrect. The vast majority of shrimp are very much carnivorous or herbivorous (the latter probably more common). There are actually very few shrimp which are planktivorous at all, at least in the adult stages. The commercially important shrimps are mainly carnivores which hunt smaller crustaceans like amphipods (herbivores) and other shrimp. Like all carnivores, including fish, shrimp are attracted to carrion as a 'free meal' which is why bait works. But to call any of them scavengers is not correct. I do not know of a single shrimp species worldwide that feeds on carrion preferentially. And planktivorous shrimp species are rare at best (at least in taxonomic diversity). If you count as a scavenger those species which feed on plant material (e.g. phytoplankton from your post) then you must also include all herbivores in that as all primary production is driven from nutrients that ultimately are derived from decomposed organic matter (read carrion).
I am completing my dissertation work on shrimp trophic ecology.
Doctor Bashir: "Of all the stories you told me, which were true and which weren't?"
Elim Garak: "My dear Doctor, they're all true"
Doctor Bashir: "Even the lies?"
Elim Garak: "Especially the lies"
™ Version 4.2
