Cryptophytes are ubiquitous and one of the major phototrophic components in marine plankton communities. They often cause red tides in the waters of many countries. Understanding the bloom dynamics of cryptophytes is, therefore, of great importance. A critical step in this understanding is unveiling their trophic modes. Prior to this study, several freshwater cryptophyte species and marine Cryptomonas sp. and Geminifera cryophila were revealed to be mixotrophic. The trophic mode of the common marine cryptophyte species, Teleaulax amphioxeia has not been investigated yet. Thus, to explore the mixotrophic ability of T. amphioxeia by assessing the types of prey species that this species is able to feed on, the protoplasms of T. amphioxeia cells were carefully examined under an epifluorescence microscope and a transmission electron microscope after adding each of the diverse prey species. Furthermore, T. amphioxeia ingestion rates heterotrophic bacteria and the cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. were measured as a function of prey concentration. Moreover, the feeding of natural populations of cryptophytes on natural populations of heterotrophic bacteria was assessed in Masan Bay in April 2006. This study reported for the first time, to our knowledge, that T. amphioxeia is a mixotrophic species. Among the prey organisms offered, T. amphioxeia fed only on heterotrophic bacteria and Synechococcus sp. The ingestion rates of T. amphioxeia on heterotrophic bacteria or Synechococcus sp. rapidly increased with increasing prey concentrations up to 8.6 × 10⁶ cells ml⁻¹, but slowly at higher prey concentrations. The maximum ingestion rates of T. amphioxeia on heterotrophic bacteria and Synechococcus sp. reached 0.7 and 0.3 cells predator⁻¹ h⁻¹, respectively. During the field experiments, the ingestion rates and grazing coefficients of cryptophytes on natural populations of heterotrophic bacteria were 0.3–8.3 cells predator⁻¹ h⁻¹ and 0.012–0.033 d⁻¹, respectively. Marine cryptophytes, including T. amphioxeia, are known to be favorite prey species for many mixotrophic and heterotrophic dinoflagellates and ciliates. Cryptophytes, therefore, likely play important roles in marine food webs and may exert a considerable potential grazing impact on the populations of marine bacteria.

隐藻无处不在，是海洋浮游生物群落的主要光养成分之一。它们经常在许多国家的水域引起赤潮。因此，了解隐生植物的开花动态非常重要。这种理解的关键一步是揭示它们的营养模式。在进行这项研究之前，有几种淡水隐生植物物种和海洋隐孢菌属物种。并证明Geminiifera cryophila是混合营养的。尚未研究常见的海洋隐生植物Teleaulax amphioxeia的营养模式。因此，通过评估双歧双歧杆菌能够摄食的猎物种类，原生质体的种类来探索其两性营养能力。添加各种猎物后，在落射荧光显微镜和透射电镜下仔细检查两栖拟南芥细胞。此外，T. amphioxeia摄食率异养细菌和蓝细菌聚球藻。被测量作为猎物浓度的函数。此外，2006年4月在马山湾评估了天然营养植物在异养细菌自然种群上的摄食。据我们所知，该研究首次报道两栖嗜血杆菌是混养物种。在所提供的捕食生物，T. amphioxeia只喂上异养细菌和蓝细菌sp。异养细菌或Synechococcus sp。上的两性衣原体的摄入率。随着猎物浓度的增加迅速增加，直至8.6×10 ⁶细胞ml ^-1，但在更高的猎物浓度下缓慢增加。异养细菌和Synechococcus sp。对两栖睾丸的最大摄入率。分别达到0.7和0.3细胞捕食者^-1  h ^-1。在田间试验中，杂菌对自然养分细菌的摄入速率和放牧系数为0.3–8.3个细胞捕食者^-1  h ^-1和0.012–0.033 d ^-1， 分别。众所周知，包括许多两性和异养性鞭毛藻和纤毛虫在内的海洋隐生植物，包括两栖拟南芥（T.amphixeia），是最喜欢的猎物。因此，隐藻可能在海洋食物网中发挥重要作用，并可能对海洋细菌种群产生相当大的潜在放牧影响。