euryphagous

English

Etymology

(deprecated template usage) [etyl] Ancient Greek εὐρύς (eurús, “wide”) + φαγεῖν (phageîn, “to eat”).

Adjective

euryphagous (comparative more euryphagous, superlative most euryphagous)

1. (ecology) Feeding on a large variety of food.

Usage notes

A euryphagous animal is not necessarily omnivorous; for example, although they are carnivorous, adult hake are euryphagous, in the sense that they feed on a wide variety of active prey, mainly horse mackerel, sardines, fishes of the families Myctophidae and Macrouridae and fishes of their own genus, apart from various crustaceans and Cephalopoda. In contrast, a stenophagous animal such as a koala feeds only on a few species of Eucalyptus leaves. The koala therefore is less euryphagous than an omnivore such as a human, but more euryphagous than a strictly stenophagous animal such as , which is an internal parasitoid of the species , California red scale, only.

Synonyms

• polyphage

Antonyms

• stenophagous

Derived terms

• euryphage
• euryphagy