Wassersug Richard
Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720.
J Morphol. 1972 Jul;137(3):279-287. doi: 10.1002/jmor.1051370303.
Tadpoles of several different genera were fed graded suspensions of uniform polystyrene particles to determine the lower size limit of particles that could be ingested. Certain tadpoles can extract suspended particles as small as 0.126 μ in diameter from the water. In terms of particle size, this is an efficiency comparable to the best mechanical sieves that can currently be produced by man. A mechanism for ultrasplanktonic entrapment is proposed on the basis of scanning electron micrographs of the secretory ridges in the branchial food traps of Rana catesbeiana before and after feeding. Xenopus tadpoles in yeast suspensions modify their clearance and buccal pumping rates in response to varying food concentrations. This may be an adaptation for maintaining a constant input of food mass to the tissues that extract the food from the water. Variability in the lower size limit of filterable particles among tadpoles of different genera correlates with the availability of suspended matter in the microhabitat where these tadpoles may be found.
给几种不同属的蝌蚪投喂分级的均匀聚苯乙烯颗粒悬浮液，以确定可摄入颗粒的下限尺寸。某些蝌蚪能够从水中摄取直径小至0.126微米的悬浮颗粒。就颗粒大小而言，这一效率与目前人类能够制造的最佳机械筛相当。根据牛蛙摄食前后鳃部食物陷阱中分泌嵴的扫描电子显微镜图像，提出了一种超浮游生物捕获机制。非洲爪蟾蝌蚪在酵母悬浮液中会根据食物浓度的变化改变其清除率和口腔泵送率。这可能是一种适应性变化，以维持向从水中提取食物的组织持续输入食物量。不同属蝌蚪中可过滤颗粒下限尺寸的变异性与这些蝌蚪可能所处微生境中悬浮物的可利用性相关。
