What is Deposit Feeding?
Deposit feeding is one of five feeding modes used by organisms to obtain food, the others being fluid feeding, filter feeding, bulk feeding, and phagocytosis. Deposit feeders obtain food particles by sifting through soil, vaguely analogous to the way that filter feeders get food by filtering water. Prominent examples are earthworms, other annelids such as polychaete worms, and fiddler crabs. Insects and their larvae, which may burrow through living or dead plants and animals, or feces, are also considered deposit feeders. Deposit feeding is a feeding strategy that only works in fertile areas with a lot of preexisting life. The top layer of soil is targeted, typically within six inches of the surface, as this is the soil most likely to contain food particles that haven’t been completely broken down yet. Biologists call these food particles detritus. After detritus has been broken down to a chemically neutral state, it becomes known as humus. Humus has a black color due to its high carbo
