Adsorption of biochemical components and feeding behaviour with natural and carbohydrate-rich diets, in Ruditapes decussatus and Venerupis pullastra clams

Abstract

The feeding behaviour and the efficiency of the absorption of biochemical components in the diet of specimens of two species of clams, Ruditapes decussatus and Venerupis pullastra, fed on natural and carbohydrate-rich diets were studied. This behaviour, for both species, for each diet supplied is described with reference to the clearance and ingestión rates, whereas the absorption of the biochemical components of the two diets was determined by biochemical analysis of the diet and the resulting feces. The effect of the diet on the feeding behaviour of both species, i.e., the increase in the ingestión rate and the corresponding increase in the absorption rate, allows R. decussatus to compensate for the nutritional deficiencies of the carbohydrate-rich diet, whereas in the case of V. pullastra it doesn't appear to be sufficient for the clams to maintain the same protein absorption rates as on the natural diet.