Abandoned Larvacean Houses: A Unique Food Source in the Pelagic Environment

Abstract

Observations made by using conventional scuba techniques reveal that abandoned larvacean houses serve as food sources for marine, planktonic copepods. Techniques have been developed for photographing these houses in the field for the first time. The abundance of larvacean houses in the open ocean indicates that they are important in pelagic food webs and as a source of particulate organic matter.