Many marine animals living in soft sediments alter their behavior depending on near-bottom flow speeds. At low flow, feeding on deposited particulate matter is common, while at higher flow animals often switch to feeding on suspended matter. This "switching" is thought to be beneficial in terms of using better food items or minimizing competitive interactions due to limited food resources. However, little direct evidence exists that animals obtain a net benefit by switching their feeding behavior. Laboratory experiments will be conducted on three bottom-dwelling species with different capacities for switching. A seawater flume will be used to create environments differing in flow speeds and availability of suspended and deposited particulate matter. Feeding and growth rates of individual animals will be measured to test hypotheses about the benefits obtained under these differing conditions. Selected experiments will be replicated at sites in the field where flow regime and supply of suspended particulate matter vary.
