Too minute to be seen except with a microscope, meiofauna are found midway in the food chain between microbes such as bacteria, protozoans and microalage, and the large macrofauna such as crabs and shellfish. Studies of one of these meiofaunal animals, the bottom-dwelling copepod Parastenhelia megarostrum, have revealed it to be in enormous numbers at Pauatahanui, ranking the inlet of high scientific value internationally. The copepod is not able to eat detritus whole, but feeds on the rich coating of bacterial or microalgal cells. The productivity of this copepod is amongst the highest recorded anywhere in the world. (See Table)
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Forest and Bird, Volume 17, Issue 3, 1 August 1986, Unnumbered Page
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100Too minute to be seen except with a microscope, meiofauna are found midway in the food chain between microbes such as bacteria, protozoans and microalage, and the large macrofauna such as crabs and shellfish. Studies of one of these meiofaunal animals, the bottom-dwelling copepod Parastenhelia megarostrum, have revealed it to be in enormous numbers at Pauatahanui, ranking the inlet of high scientific value internationally. The copepod is not able to eat detritus whole, but feeds on the rich coating of bacterial or microalgal cells. The productivity of this copepod is amongst the highest recorded anywhere in the world. (See Table) Forest and Bird, Volume 17, Issue 3, 1 August 1986, Unnumbered Page
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