The contribution of marine snow to the particle food supply of the benthic suspension feeder, Mytilus edulis

Food quality was lower in the bottom waters due to significantly higher particulate inorganic matter (PIM, >2 mg l−1) when compared with the surface waters. PIM accounted for 95% of the total settled mass flux of 3.4 g m−2 day−1 measured in sediment traps deployed 1 m off the bottom, with organic carbon representing only 2.5% of the mass flux during the mid-summer conditions. At low-current sites such as Shorey Cove, Roque Island, Maine, the settling of marine snow provides an important additional source of food, albeit of low quality, to benthic populations of blue mussels.