Table 1.

Total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN) and contribution of N (% dry weight) from AAs to TN in surface sediments (0–5 mm) and gut contents (F: foregut; H: hindgut) of deposit feeders (mean ± SD) collected in periods of low food supply (i.e. May) and high food supply (i.e. October). The sample size was two for each mean value.

		%TOC		% TN		% AA/TN
		Low food supply	High food supply	Low food supply	High food supply	Low food supply	High food supply
Sediment		1.4 ± 0.05	1.6 ± 0.02	0.22 ± 0.01	0.22 ± 0.02	0.28 ± 0.17	0.31 ± 0.09
O. mutabilis	F	3.7 ± 1.0	5.8 ± 0.07	0.60 ± 0.23	0.83 ± 0.11		5.76 ± 2.05
	H	3.2 ± 1.4	3.5 ± 0.8	0.47 ± 0.27	0.46 ± 0.14	10.83 ± 3.39	5.48 ± 0.55
S. globosa	F	3.0 ± 1.0		0.43 ± 0.15
	H	2.1 ± 0.07		0.32 ± 0.03		3.88 ± 3.45
E. rostrata	F	2.3 ± 0.5	3.4 ± 0.8	0.35 ± 0.01	0.42 ± 0.11		9.38 ± 3.47
	H	2.2 ± 0.4	2.9 ± 0.3	0.39 ± 0.09	0.51 ± 0.00	2.02 ± 0.34	10.97 ± 8.74