Calorific and carbon values of marine and freshwater Protozoa

Abstract

Calorific and carbon values were determined for a variety of marine and freshwater Protozoa (Noctiluca miliaris, Euplotes sp., Eufolliculina sp. respectively Tetrahymena pyriformis, Paramecium caudatum), their food sources (Bacteria, Dunaliella primolecta, Ceratium hirundinella), and for Protozoa-dominated plankton samples. Most calorific values lie close to the centre of the range covering organisms in general. Low values in some marine samples probably resulted from the retention of bound water in the dried material. When all results were combined with data selected from the literature, the dependence of calorific value on carbon content was highly significant. This relationship is probably also adequately described by an energy-carbon regression through the variety of organic compounds commonly found in organisms. Calorific value expressed per unit carbon is shown to vary little in Protozoa (mean conversion factor 46 J [mg C]-1) or throughout the range of biological materials considered in this study (45 J [mg C]-1). © 1981 Biologische Anstalt Helgoland.