Saprophages are organisms that obtain

nutrient A nutrient is a substance used by an organism to survive, grow, and reproduce. The requirement for dietary nutrient intake applies to animals, plants, fungi, and protists. Nutrients can be incorporated into cells for metabolic purposes or excr ...

s by consuming decomposing dead plant or animal biomass. They are distinguished from

detritivore Detritivores (also known as detrivores, detritophages, detritus feeders, or detritus eaters) are heterotrophs that obtain nutrients by consuming detritus (decomposing plant and animal parts as well as feces). There are many kinds of invertebrate ...

s in that saprophages are

sessile Sessility, or sessile, may refer to: * Sessility (motility), organisms which are not able to move about * Sessility (botany), flowers or leaves that grow directly from the stem or peduncle of a plant * Sessility (medicine), tumors and polyps that ...

consumers while detritivores are mobile. Typical saprophagic animals include sedentary

polychaete Polychaeta () is a paraphyletic class of generally marine annelid worms, commonly called bristle worms or polychaetes (). Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that bear many bristles, called chaetae, which are ...

s such as amphitrites (''Amphitritinae'', worms of the family

Terebellidae The Terebellidae is a marine family of polychaete worms, of which the type taxon is '' Terebella'', described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1767 12th edition of ''Systema Naturae''. Characteristics Most terebellids live in burrows or crevices and a ...

) and other terebellids. The eating of wood, whether live or dead, is known as

xylophagy Xylophagy is a term used in ecology to describe the habits of an herbivorous animal whose diet consists primarily (often solely) of wood. The word derives from Greek ''ξυλοφάγος'' (''xulophagos'') "eating wood", from ''ξύλον'' (') ...

. The activity of animals feeding only on dead wood is called sapro-xylophagy and those animals, sapro-xylophagous.

Ecology

food webs A food web is the natural interconnection of food chains and a graphical representation of what-eats-what in an ecological community. Another name for food web is consumer-resource system. Ecologists can broadly lump all life forms into one ...

, saprophages generally play the roles of

decomposers Decomposers are organisms that break down dead or decaying organisms; they carry out decomposition, a process possible by only certain kingdoms, such as fungi. Like herbivores and predators, decomposers are heterotrophic, meaning that they use o ...

. There are two main branches of saprophages, broken down by nutrient source. There are

necrophage Necrophages are organisms that obtain nutrients by consuming decomposing dead animal biomass, such as the muscle and soft tissue of carcasses and corpses. The term derives from Greek , meaning 'dead', and , meaning 'to eat.' Mainly, necrophages ar ...

s which consume dead animal biomass, and

thanatophage Thanatophages, are organisms that obtain nutrients by consuming decomposing dead plant biomass. Ecology In food webs, thanatophages generally play the roles of decomposers. The eating of wood, whether live or dead, is known as xylophagy. The ac ...

s which consume dead plant biomass.

References

{{modelling ecosystems Eating behaviors Mycology Soil biology

Ecology

See also

References