Bacterivore

A bacterivore is an organism which obtains energy and nutrients primarily or entirely from the consumption of bacteria. The term is most commonly used to describe free-living, heterotrophic, microscopic organisms such as nematodes as well as many species of amoeba and numerous other types of protozoans, but some macroscopic invertebrates are also bacterivores, including sponges, polychaetes, and certain molluscs and arthropods. Many bacterivorous organisms are adapted for generalist predation on any species of bacteria, but not all bacteria are easily digested; the spores of some species, such as Clostridium perfringens, will never be prey because of their cellular attributes.