There ’s nothing ruder than taking someone ’s food without involve — except maybe expect until they ’re finished corrode and consuming them whole so you could get those extra Calorie . AsGizmodoreports , this way of life of alimentation , dubbed " kleptopredation , " may be how at least one group of shellfish prefer to take its meals .
In their recent study print in the journalBiology missive , European scientist explored the eating habits of nudibranchs . Nudibranchs are sonant - bodied ocean poke that are sometimes called " butterfly stroke of the sea " for their colorful appearances . The hit sea creatures are also effectivecarnivores , preying on sponges , windflower , and occasionally other nudibranchs .
For their experimentation , the research worker placed member of a sea slug species known as the pilgrim hervia ( Cratena peregrina ) in a tank with one of their favorite kickshaw : hydroids , a relative of man-of-war . Plankton were also present for the hydroids to rust . When given a choice between the empty - stomach hydroids and hydroids that had just consumed or were in the middle of consuming plankton , the nudibranchs chose the well - aliment quarry in 14 out of the 25 trial . According to the study authors , plankton can make up at least one-half of the nudibranch dieting this style even though it ’s being preyed upon indirectly . This means that a sea slug ’s interactions with a plankton - loving coelenterate could go beyond the basic piranha - quarry human relationship .
Though the nudibranchs ' preference for hydroid that had wipe out plankton was n’t random , that does n’t automatically mean it ’s a case of kleptopredation . It ’s possible that the ocean slugs simply chose the prey that looked big , or they function after the hydroids that had just fed because the stick electric cell the cnidarians apply to search were worn out and therefore less harmful .
If more inquiry does support the theory that the animals target full prey before giving them a chance to digest , that would add the singular predation method to the already impressive roster ofnudibranch abilities .
[ h / tGizmodo ]
