The Role of Foraminifera in the Trophic Structure of Marine Communities

Foraminifera are recorded as feeding chiefly upon bacteria, small diatoms, and nannoplankton in a wide variety of marine environments. Thus their food items are usually below 50 μ and commonly below 25 μ in size. Predators upon Foraminifera range from highly specialized microcarnivores that feed largely on Foraminifera to less selective ones that include Foraminifera in a mixed diet and to generalized feeders that ingest Foraminifera along with much other material.