Geographic and Genetic Variation in Feeding Preference for Chemically Defended Seaweeds

Abstract

Genetic variation in tolerance for seaweed chemical defenses among populations of marine herbivores is poorly described, either because few marine studies have addressed the issue or because the feeding preferences of populations of marine herbivores rarely differentiate. We address this using the polyphagous amphipod Ampithoe longimana (Crustacea), which commonly consumes, and lives on, terpene‐rich brown seaweeds in the tropical genus Dictyota. Previous work demonstrated that in areas where the amphipod and…