Viability of marine phytoplankton in zooplankton fecal pellets

Zooplankton fecal pellets collected from sediment traps or freshly excreted by euphausiids grazing in situ at natural phytoplankton levels in the pelagic Mediterranean were incubated under laboratory conditions and always contained viable marine phytoplankton, usually diatoms. Fecal pellets excreted by euphausiids grazing in the laboratory on unialgal diets also contained living cells, indicating viable gut passage of some species. The rapid sinking of fecal pellets appears to be an effective mechanism for transporting living algae to depth and possibly in seeding marine waters and sediments with such cells.