(Table 1) Composition of organic matter in bottom sediments and in digestive tract contents of holothurians

Previously obtained data on sharp enrichment with organic matter (OM) of intestinal tract contents and on enrichment of OM itself with fraction of lipid-like substances, namely bitumoids, having been confirmed. It has been shown that distribution of n-paraffins, including their ratio of odd and even series (?/?), is the same for all animals in all sections of the intestinal tract and does not depend on their distribution in sediments (the 0/E ratio in the intestinal tract is equal to 1+/-0.01, and the 0/E ratio in sediments is equal to 1.08-1.54). Hence, it follows that holothurians are able to select food, which chemical composition differs sharply from the average chemical composition of OM present in sediments. This fact can be attributed only to consumption of products formed by reprocessing of OM (supplied to the bottom) by bottom microorganisms, or to consumption of microorganisms themselves.