Invertebrate communities associated with hard bottom habitats in the South Atlantic Bight

Wenner, Elizabeth L.; Knott, David M.; Dolah, Robert F. Van; Burrell, Victor G.

doi:10.1016/0272-7714(83)90059-8

Cited by 56 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Sponges are conspicuous members of tropical benthic communities (Reiswig 1973, Rutzler 1978, Suchanek et al 1983, Wenner et al 1983, particularly on coral reefs, where they can rival hard corals in both diversity and abundance (Suchanek et al 1983, Targett & Schmahl 1984, Van Soest 1994. Despite being sessile, fleshy, and ostensibly lacking physical protection from predation, sponges thrive in an ecosystem 'Corresponding author.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Defenses of Caribbean sponges against invertebrate predators. I. Assays with hermit crabs

Waddell¹,

Pawlik²

2000

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Hermit crabs (Decapoda: Anomura) are typically omnivorous and are common on Caribbean coral reefs. Sponges are sessile, fleshy, and high in protein and energy content, yet hermit crabs do not appear to prey on them. Assays were performed with the Caribbean reef hermit crab Paguristes punticeps to determine whether secondary metabolites or skeletal elements of Caribbean sponges that were incorporated into artificial foods affected feeding. Of 30 sponge species assayed, 26 (87 %) yielded organic extracts that deterred feedlng by P punticeps. There was substantial interspecific and intraspecific vanabllity in patterns of chemical deterrence. Sponges of the families Axinellidae, Agelasidae, Aplysinidae, Aplysinellidae, and Thorectidae typically yielded deterrent extracts. Three common sponge species, Mycale laevis, Callyspongla vaginalis, and Niphates erecta, were consistently non-deterrent, while other species, including Spheciospongja othella, Chondrilla nucula, Callyspongia plicifera. Niphates digitalis, and Xestospongia muta, were variably deterrent. These results are in general agreement with those of a previous survey of Caribbean sponge chemical defenses using the common reef fish Thalassoma bifasciatum. However, some results differed: Geodia neptuni and Iotrochota birotulata were consistently palatable to T. bifasciatum, but were deterrent to P. punticeps. Several species that were consistently deterrent to 7 bifasciatum were variably deterrent to P punticeps, including Aplysina caulifornus, Aplysina fulva, Ircinia strobilina, Amphimedon compressa, and Mycale laxjssima. Neither spicules (from Agelas clathrodes, Ectyoplasia feros, and Xestospongia muta) nor splculated spongin skeleton (from A. clathrodes and X. muta) deterred feeding by P, punticeps. Spicules and spiculated spongin were similarly non-deterrent to the fish T bifasciatum in a previous survey. The results of this study further suggest that chemical defenses are important in the ecology of Caribbean sponges, while skeletal components do not serve an antipredatory function.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Defenses of Caribbean sponges against invertebrate predators. I. Assays with hermit crabs

Waddell¹,

Pawlik²

2000

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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show abstract

“…They inhabit every type of marine environment, from polar seas (Dayton et al 1974) to temperate and tropical waters (Reiswig 1973, Wenner et al 1983, and are often more abundant and diverse in the tropics than stony and soft corals (Targett & Schmahl 1984). Sponges feed on bacteria (Bergquist 1978) and are 'Addressee for correspondence.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Antimicrobial activity of Caribbean sponge extracts

Newbold¹,

Jensen²,

Fenical³

et al. 1999

Aquat. Microb. Ecol.

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Marine sponges produce a diversity of unusual chemical compounds, but the ecological functions of these metabolites remain largely unknown. To determine if sponge secondary metabolites have ecologically significant antimicrobial effects, organic extracts from 33 species of Caribbean sponges were assayed for antibiotic activity against a test panel of marine bacteria. The test panel consisted of 8 strains representing 6 genera of marine bacteria and included an opportunistic pathogen ( Vibnoparahaemolyticus), a common fouling bacterium (Deleya marina), and strains isolated from seawater and healthy and necrotic Caribbean sponges. Extracts were tested for antibiotic activity at concentrations that were volumetrically equivalent to those found in sponge tissues (whole-tissue concentratlons). Bioassay results revealed that 16 species (48%) exhibited antibiotic activity against at least l bacterial isolate and that the 2 bacteria isolated from necrotic sponge tissues were the most sensitive test strains (inhibited by 40% of the extracts). Extracts from Amphimedon cornpressa, Amphimedon erina, Aplysina lacunosa, and Ptdocaulis spicuhfera inhibited the largest numbers of test stralns and exhibited the most potent antibiotic activities with values frequently exceeding those of a control antibiotic (gentarnicin). The pattern of antimicrobial activity was different for 15 of 16 active sponge specles, suggesting that diverse taxa do not produce similar antibacterial metabohtes. Overall, only 23 % of the extract/bacterial interactions exhibited antibactenal activity, indicating that, in general, conspicuous members of the Caribbean sponge community do not produce broad-spectrum anttbacterial metabolltes. All of the species yielding antibacterial extracts also deterred feeding by reef fishes in a previous study, suggesting that some secondary metabolites may have evolved multiple defensive functions Stevensine, a compound from Axnella corrugata (= Teichaxinella morchella) known to deter feed~ng by predatory reef fishes, exhibited weak antimicrobial activity, suggesting that this potent feedlng deterrent is not solely responsible for the antimicrobial activity detected in the crude sponge extract.

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“…Strathmanr (1982) determined that the benthos is as hazardous as the water column for zoopl~mkters and that estuarine waters are more hazardous than coastal waters by comparing instantaneous mortality rates of copepods from each environment. Vulnerable larvae may reduce contact with benthic invertebrates by remaining in seaward flowing surface waters as they migrate from shallow upper estuaries to the continental shelves, where the density of macroinvertebrates at least in some places may be less (Wenner et al, 1983;Dauer et al, 1984;Gaston, 1987). Once in deeper coastal waters, larvae that progressively descend as they develop may be less likely to encounter benthic predators.…”

Section: Potential Impact Of Predatory Invertebrates On Larval Morphomentioning

confidence: 99%

Predation by planktonic and benthic invertebrates on larvae of estuarine crabs

Morgan

1992

Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology

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Abstract:The ability of 11 species of planktonic and benthic invertebrates to prey on larvae of two estua. line species of crabs was determined in the laboratory. Ten of 11 of these predators with diverse feeding modes consumed crab larvae. Two of three planktonic invertebrates tested ate more larvae of the fiddler crab, Uca minax (LeConte, 1855), than larvae of the mud crab, Rhithropanopeus harrisii (Gould, 1841), and 4 of 8 benthic invertebrates consumed more U. minax larvae. None of the invertebrates ingested more R. harrisii than U. minax larvae. The larger size of R. harrisii larvae rather than their longer spines likely deterred most invertebrates, although differences in swimming speed, avoidance behavior or penetrability of the exoskeleton also may account for the differential predation on the two species. Available information on the distribution, abundance and feeding habits of potential predators of crab larvae was reviewed and synthesized with results of this study to determine if dispersal patterns of estuarine crabs likely have evolved in response to predictable trends in predation by invertebrates. Preliminary evidence for this hypothesis is equivocal but suggests that particular taxa of hydromedusae are more likely to influence dispersal of estuarine crabs than are other planktonic and benthic invertebrates.

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Invertebrate communities associated with hard bottom habitats in the South Atlantic Bight

Cited by 56 publications

References 12 publications

Defenses of Caribbean sponges against invertebrate predators. I. Assays with hermit crabs

Defenses of Caribbean sponges against invertebrate predators. I. Assays with hermit crabs

Antimicrobial activity of Caribbean sponge extracts

Predation by planktonic and benthic invertebrates on larvae of estuarine crabs

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