The heterotrophic organisms They are those that must transform the organic matter of other living beings to acquire the nutrients and energy necessary to survive. For instance: fish, goats, carnivorous plants. They differ from autotrophic organisms, capable of synthesizing the substances necessary for their growth and survival from inorganic materials.
This type of feeding It requires the prior presence of organic matter to be consumed and converted into its own and is common to all members of the animal kingdom, fungi, protozoa, a large part of bacteria and archaea. Plants and phytocellular organisms are, instead, autotrophs. And there are organisms capable of both feeding methods, called mixtotrophs.