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Y.H. CHEUNG, K.Y. TAI, S.W. TSAO AND L.B. THROWER
items of diet for the higher trophic levels include phytoplankton, periphyton, polychaetes (eg. Nereis) and miscellaneous other invertebrates such as chironomid larvae, crustacean larvae, copepods (eg. Tigriopus japonicus), amphipods and isopods. The percentage composition of the gut contents of a range of animals is given in Table 5.
Table 4. Characteristics of the bacterial colonies isolated from surface of mangrove leaves (Kandelia candel) after various periods of immersion in kei wai
Period of immersion (days) 8 14 21 43 Character Gram stain (+) 40* 30 67 60 Gram stain (-) 60 70 33 40 Rod 80 90 100 100 Coccus 20 10 0 0 Pigment White 25 67 40 75 Yellow 22 Orange 0 0 Pink 11 Grey 0 0 Transparent 0 MooMoo 0 20 0 40 Biochemical character Glucose fermentation 25 Starch hydrolysis 50 Proteolysis 25 Lipid hydrolysis Cellulolysis KAKKA 64 55 36 20 75 63 50 73 80 82 88 30 30 70 22 075 44* Percentage of isolates possessing each character
The results show the importance of detritus of plant origin (plant fragments) in the diet of these animals. It was most important in the case of invertebrates where it accounted for 22-40% of the gut contents, but made up 30% of the gut content of striped mullet (Mugil cephalus). Moreover, other undefined detrital material (sediments and inorganic particles) also made up a large