Foregut contents of calyptopes (the first feeding stage) of Euphausia pacifica Hansen, collected from the Yellow Sea in June 1989, were examined using scanning electron microscopy with the dry-fracturing method. There was no clear evidence of phytoplankton ingestion by calyptopes. The foregut contents consisted entirely of amorphous organic detritus, crustacean remains and inorganic particles. The inorganic particles adhered to amorphous organic detritus, and bacterial populations were found on peritrophic membranes of fecal pellets which enveloped crustacean remains. These materials seemed to have originated from aggregates of organic and inorganic detritus. It is quite possible that the detrital aggregates are utilized extensively as food by calyptopes of E. pacifica in the Yellow Sea.
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