Save few, fairy shrimp are filter-feeders, collecting algae, detritus and bacteria on the filter
screens of their trunk limbs (usually 11 pairs), and pushing a food bolus along the ventral food
groove to the mouth. Many species can be cultured on a diet composed of algae, or of micronized inert particles (De Walsche et al., 1991; Brendonck, 1996b). However, that does not mean that these species are pure herbivores. In fact, it has been shown that fairy shrimp that grow to an adult body length of l–3 cm readily catch and eat small animals, like nematodes, rotifers, and larvae of copepods and cladocerans (Mertens et al., 1990).