Title: suspension feeder
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - suspension feeder
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.15086
Status: current

Definition
Animal that feeds by straining suspended matter and food particles from water, typically by passing the water over a specialized structure, such as the baleen of baleen whales.

Notes
1) Some animals that use this method of feeding are clams, barnacles, krill, mysids, sponges, whale sharks, and flamingoes.
2) Other types of feeder are deposit feeder, fluid feeder, and food-mass feeder.

Related Terms
- deposit feeder: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/14575
- fluid feeder: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/14697
- food-mass feeder: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/14699

Source
- PAC, 2009, 81, 829. 'Glossary of terms used in ecotoxicology (IUPAC Recommendations 2009)' on page 953 (https://doi.org/10.1351/PAC-REC-08-07-09)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/15086/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/15086/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/15086/xml

Citation: Citation: 'suspension feeder' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.15086
License: The IUPAC Gold Book is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike CC BY-SA 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) for individual terms.
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Disclaimer: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.
Accessed: 2026-08-03T12:28:07+00:00