Detritivores: definition and examples

Detritivorous animals are those organisms that feed on debris. These debris are particles of organic matter found in dead matter or decomposition bodies, both animals and plant. In other words, detritivores feed on organic waste.

Some of the characteristics of the detritivores that we can highlight are the following:

• They can recycle the detritus: In this way, they contribute to the different ecosystems and the trophic chain.
• They convert feces into substances: Some microorganisms and fungi are responsible for this. It is based on a process that returns components to the earth, such as inorganic carbon.
• They have a varied digestive system: Some detritivorous animals can chew organic matter, others simply have a device to suck.
• They have a hollyja: It is a structure with sand particles and that only have some detritivores. Its function is to help make the digestion of these animals when crushing the broken material.

Other characteristics of detritivorous animals

Now that you know some of the main characteristics of the detritivores and their definition, we will see other of these characteristics.

• Animal habitat detritivores: It is very varied, there are both in water and on land. In marine ecosystems it is common to find them in abundance in the marine depths, where the debris arrive and where there is little competition with other groups of the food chain because it is an area with a lack of light, low temperature and large pressures. All dead organic matter that falls towards depths is known as marine snow. In terrestrial ecosystems, detritivores are found in the soil or between the leaf litter.
• The feeding of detritivorous animals: It is what brings them together as a group, and in addition to the aforementioned, we can add that they always need to ingest food internally to complete digestion and obtain nutrients. This group of detritivores are one of the categories that appear within the food chain, as well as primary producers or carnivorous animals, for example.
• The reproduction of detritivorous animals: This is very varied because it is not only a group of animals, but several as you will see in the examples that we present below.

Now that you know what detritivores are, we will know some examples of these animals.

Earthworm (Lumbricus Terrestris)

The worms are cavadores, but the land that really takes it by the mouth. From here they obtain organic matter from dead leaves and waste in the soil. Once the nutrients that it requires, Its excretions contain minerals and already processed elements that plants can integrate into their cycle. This new land created by worms is known as humus and is used as fertilizer for plants.

Sea stars (asteroid class)

Sea stars are typically Mollusc depredaders and small fishbut they complement their diet with debris. Being bentonic organisms associated with marine soil, they have at their disposal all organic matter that is deposited from the surface, including fecal matter and wounded organisms.

We tell you more about the sea star: characteristics, reproduction and taxonomy in the following Ecology Verde.

Manure flies (Scathophagidae family)

These flies begin in their larva stadium In manure. They feed on this matter to gather strength before wrapping in their pupa to complete the metamorphosis. When they become winged adults they stop consuming manure and become insect predators. Although they are considered unpleasant and dirty, it is thanks to these fly larvae that cattle manure can be processed.

You may be interested in taking a look at this post about the life cycle of the flies.

Milpiés (Diplopoda class)

Milpiés are dedicated to rolling between the ground In search of organic matter, mainly of plant matter. The plants have very hard and difficult compounds to process, so the milpiés are very important to break down accumulated leaves. They are also excavators, so they integrally improve the ground to Redeems nutrients and when airing the layers that make up to the ground. This aeration is also important to improve water retention and avoid compaction.

Earth is a closed system where nothing is wasted, not even waste. The detritivoros are key to closing the circle, as they are the responsible for decomposing organic matter to be processed in inorganic molecules such as carbon, phosphorus and nitrogen, leaving them available to be included in the nutrient cycle. This is known as remineralization.

Thanks to the detritivores, we do not see accumulated organic waste or, in other words, detritivores help recycle waste. In addition, detritivores They contribute to the nutrition of plants.

Decomposers are those organisms that feed on the chemical decomposition of waste or decomposition organisms. As we can see, the definition is very similar to the one we review for the detritivores. But there are differences between them.

Detritivoros need internal digestion To process your food. That is, they need to ingest the debris through the mouth towards the digestive system. On the other hand, Decomposers do not need to digest Internally its food, but externally absorb nutrients through chemical processes. This last diet is known as saprotophical.

Decomposers are mainly bacteria, protozoa and fungi, while detritivorous are more complex organisms such as insects or invertebrates.

If you want to know more about them, do not hesitate to take a look at the following ecology article see about what are the decomponent organisms: examples.

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