Question

What do protists eat?

Answer 1

Hint: Protists are unicellular, eukaryotic organisms that are mostly found in aquatic environments. The term ‘Protista’ was first coined by Ernest Hackle. This group of organisms has a varied group of drawing nutrition.

Complete answer:
Different protists have different modes of nutrition, such as:
Holophytic mode of nutrition: This is the mode of nutrition where the organism can synthesize its own food and is not dependent on any other organism for drawing nutrition. It refers to autotrophic organisms like plants.
Holozoic mode of nutrition: It is also known as ‘ingestive mode of nutrition’. In this case, the organisms feed on other organic matter and the matter is internally processed to release the energy stored in it with the help of enzymes and other concerned metabolic reactions.
Parasitic mode of nutrition: Here the organisms draw nutrition from another organism in which it lives but does not kill the host. This type of nutrition is also known as ‘absorptive form of nutrition’.
Mixotrophic mode of nutrition: Some protists like Euglena can carry out both photosynthesis (holophytic mode) and they are also saprophytic (parasitic mode).
Now, depending upon these various types of nutrition, the protists feed on different things like phytoplankton, decaying plants and animals, small bacteria, etc.

Note:
It is to be noted that all protists do not follow all the nutrition types as mentioned above. Basically, most of the protists are aquatic organisms and most of them can synthesize their own food, i.e., they are autotrophic.