Feeding rates in sessile versus motile ciliates are hydrodynamically equivalent.

ABSTRACT: Motility endows microorganisms with the ability to swim to nutrient-rich environments, but many species are sessile. Existing hydrodynamic arguments in support of either strategy, to swim or to attach and generate feeding currents, are often built on a limited set of experimental or modeling assumptions. Here, to assess the hydrodynamics of these 'swim' or 'stay' strategies, we propose a comprehensive methodology that combines mechanistic modeling with a survey of published shape and flow data in ciliates. Model predictions and empirical observations show small variations in feeding rates in favor of either motile or sessile cells. Case-specific variations notwithstanding, our overarching analysis shows that flow physics imposes no constraint on the feeding rates that are achievable by the

SUBMITTER: Liu J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12854670 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature