ABSTRACT
Sediment detritus, as either a major or supplemental food resource, can be important to echinoderm growth. The degree of importance cannot necessarily be determined by bulk measures of carbon, nitrogen, or calories but by measuring nutritional components such as essential amino acids and fatty acids that vary with source and state of decomposition of the detritus pool. In detritus-based food chains, the food resource is a heterogeneous pool composed of various sources of detritus (fecal pellets, seaweed and vascular plant-derived particulates) and associated microbes. The contribution of these sources changes with ecosystem habitat and seasonally. The various components differ quite dramatically in essential nutrient and caloric content and provide a composite nutritional source to the deposit feeder.
