Which feeding method involves filtering small particles suspended in water?

Which feeding method involves filtering small particles suspended in water?

• A. Suspension Feeder
• B. Swim Bladder
• C. Salt Glands
• D. Radial Symmetry

Answer: (A)

This question tests understanding of how some aquatic animals obtain food by filtering tiny particles from water. In suspension feeding, an animal draws in water and uses specialized structures—like gill filters, mucus nets, or baleen plates—to trap small suspended particles such as plankton or detritus, while the remaining water exits. This feeding method is efficient in environments where food is dispersed in the water column, allowing continuous feeding as water flows through the filtering apparatus. The other options describe different functions: a swim bladder is for buoyancy control, salt glands help excrete excess salts, and radial symmetry is a body plan, not a feeding method. So the concept illustrated is suspension feeding (filter feeding).

This question tests understanding of how some aquatic animals obtain food by filtering tiny particles from water. In suspension feeding, an animal draws in water and uses specialized structures—like gill filters, mucus nets, or baleen plates—to trap small suspended particles such as plankton or detritus, while the remaining water exits. This feeding method is efficient in environments where food is dispersed in the water column, allowing continuous feeding as water flows through the filtering apparatus. The other options describe different functions: a swim bladder is for buoyancy control, salt glands help excrete excess salts, and radial symmetry is a body plan, not a feeding method. So the concept illustrated is suspension feeding (filter feeding).