Talk:Bacterivore

Sponges, ?etc.

This page says all bacterivores are microscopic, but most poriferans are bacterivores and not microscopic, right? Are there any other non-microscopic filter feeders or other animals that also live mostly off of eating bacteria? I notice some animals are mentioned in the page on microbivory.DubleH (talk) 20:19, 3 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]

@DubleH: Yes, you are correct. Sponges are an excellent example of macroscopic bacterivores; many invertebrates, including polychaetes and some marine molluscs, all visible to the naked eye, feed primarily on bacteria collected from seawater, in a process similar to the filter feeding used by sponges. Some macroscopic arthropods, e.g. Collembola and some crustaceans, also apparently derive their nutrition largely from bacteria. For many other species that regularly consume bacteria, e.g. earthworms, it is likely unclear exactly what portion of their diet is composed of bacteria, and so it is difficult to say whether or not they rely "primarily" on bacteria for their nutrition, which seems to be the critical qualifier defining bacterivory. Worms in general tend to be very good at adapting to different food sources when environments change, and hence can easily become 'ad hoc' bacterivores, subsisting entirely on bacteria but only under particular conditions – whether that qualifies them as genuine bacterivores, I'm not sure. But the main point still holds – not all bacterivores are microscopic. I'll edit the introduction.—PJsg1011 (talk) 03:16, 3 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]