Clearance rates of small (about 12 mm oral-aboral length) Mnemiopsis leidyi were measured by means of the ingestion-rate method in order to compare with rates estimated from an equation (derived from Decker et al. 2004 ) used in previous studies. About 3 times higher clearance rates measured in the present study indicate that the estimated predation impact of small ctenophores may previously have been considerably underestimated. The prey-capture efficiency measured in M. leidyi depends on type

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... and size of prey organism, and the study indicates that the clearance of slow swimming prey (e.g. mussel larvae) captured by auricular flow fields is higher than the clearance of fast swimming/jumping prey (copepods) captured by the lobes. The ingestion-rate method presented may open up not only more precise measurements of clearance rates, but also provide for digestion rates of M. leidyi offered different types of prey organisms.