Heterotrophic Nutrition A heterotroph is an organism that cannot synthesize its own food and is dependent on breaking down complex organic substances for nutrition

What types of feeders are there?

(omni-, all; -vore, eater) Omnivores (omni-, all; -vore, eater)

Omnivores Omnivores eat Plant and animal material. Omnivores cannot digest cellulose which is found in cell walls of plants. This goes through them undigested and is roughage. Some insect omnivores are pollinators, so they are important to the life cycle of some plants. Large Omnivores

caro meaning 'meat' or 'flesh' and vorare meaning 'to devour') Carnivores caro meaning 'meat' or 'flesh' and vorare meaning 'to devour')

Carnivores Carnivores feed on other animals. They are secondary consumers

Herbivores Herbivora or herba meaning a small plant or herb and vorare, to eat or devour

Herbivorous Strategies Herbivores have different strategies to break down cellulose. ruminants have a large forestomachs which contain bacteria that ferment vegetation and break down cellulose. Examples of ruminants are cattle, sheep and deer. Caudal fermentors, or cecal digestors have bacteria in their large intestine to allow digestion of cellulose through fermentation. Examples of cecal digestors include horses and rabbits. See later in topic for details

Feeding Mechanism Different animals use different strategies to feed

Bulk Feeders organisms have specialised teeth for the food they eat. Bulk feeders eat food in lumps or whole. organisms have specialised teeth for the food they eat.

Filter feeders Filter feeders remove food that is suspended in water. Baleen whales have comb like plates to sieve shrimp and small fish Other fish like basking sharks have gill rakers to strain plankton from the water.

Fluid feeders Many insects, some fish and mammals feed on fluids such as blood, plant sap or nectar. Fluid feeders have specialised mouth parts

Deposit feeders These feed by sifting through the substrate to find food. Insects may burrow through detritus or dung . Benthic fish like catfish suck up mud and ingest the plant and animal material in it