The small size of Bathypterois mediterraneus is important in its feeding because Sulak (1984b) postulated that small-bodied components of the abyssal fauna are
microphagous (e.g.
Some gastropods feed by scraping the substrate with their radula, such as the limpet (Patella) and other patellar gastropods, and the littorinids, which are
microphagous or have beak-like mouthparts they can use to tear plants to pieces or to graze on small plants and diatoms, in a way similar to sea urchins.
Scaling of gut size and feeding structures probably forces benthic juveniles to forage differently from the
microphagous deposit- or suspension-feeding adults (Jumars et al.
Further, most bufonid anurans are
microphagous suspension-feeders that eat fungi, detritus, microorganisms such as bacteria and protozoans, as well as algae (Wassersug, 1975; Duellman and Trueb, 1986).
Amphibalanus amphitrite is more
microphagous in nature and is capable of feeding on phytoplankton and debris (Desai and Anil, 2004).
58), that entered the benthic food chain through
microphagous herbivorous fish and detritivores that exploit coralline substrates that are dead as a result of natural or human interference.
For
microphagous feeding (2) yeast cells were labeled with the dye Evans blue.