Opportunistic feeding by the fungiid coral Fungia scruposa on the moon jellyfish Aurelia aurita

Abstract

The Gulf of Aqaba (Red Sea) is characterized by seasonal plankton blooms which are driven by vertical nutrient upwelling during winter (Genin et al. 1995). In March 2009, following the seasonal upwelling, large numbers of the moon jellyfish (Aurelia aurita) were recorded at the local fringing reefs of Eilat, at depths of 2-20 m (Fig. 1a). During this event, several large (ca. 20-25 cm) solitary corals (Fungia scruposa) were observed to feed on these jellyfish (Fig. 1b, c). A. aurita is known to be eaten by a wide variety of relatively large predators, including fish, sea turtles and even sea birds; however, it has never been reported as a coral's prey. Despite the fact that hermatypic corals may feed heterotrophically on a broad variety of sources ranging in size from bacteria to mesozooplankton (up to 1,000 lm) (Houlbrèque and Ferrier-Pagès 2009), this is the first report of solitary corals feeding on large gelatinous plankton (ca. 12 cm in diameter) in their natural habitat. Other cnidarians, such as the sea anemone Entacmaea medusivora in Palau, have also been shown to feed on jellyfish (Mastigias papua). However, as opposed to F. scruposa, these sea anemones are constantly surrounded by their prey and they lack photosynthetic endosymbionts (Fautin and Fitt 1991). Our observations revealed that the large-mouthed solitary fungiids can consume relatively large prey organisms, which are not available to other corals, as an additional source of protein. It remains to be shown, however, how fungiid corals manage to capture these large jellyfish while overcoming their motility. This trophic opportunism and reproductive plasticity exhibited by fungiid corals (Loya and Sakai 2008) are suggested as an important asset in determining their evolutionary success.

Evidence of Cnidarians sensitivity to sound after exposure to low frequency noise underwater sources

“…From an ecological point of view, the Coelenterates (Cnidarians and Ctenophora) play a central role in marine ecosystems and are key as a food source for different taxa12, as well as a predator of eggs, fish larvae, small planktonic and nektonic prey34. Coelenterates may also help maintaining high biodiversity by preventing the monopolization of biomass by extremely successful competitors5.…”

Jelly-falls historic and recent observations: a review to drive future research directions

“…Additionally, jelly-falls may provide an environment for macrofauna/microbial communities to proliferate, which, in turn, may be preyed upon by other taxa (Sweetman & Chapman, 2011). Sessile organisms (anthozoans, including hexacorallians, octocorallians, and scleractians) also consume J-POM (Gili et al, 2006;Alamaru et al, 2009;Lebrato & Jones, 2009). Echinoderms dominate scavenging observations at any depth, followed by crustaceans and fish (Table 3).…”

“…Carcasses were documented with a camera in two different areas in seven transects at very low densities (0.01 carcass m -2 ), estimated to contribute \1% to the annual organic matter flux in the area. Numerous jelly-falls of Aurelia aurita Linnaeus 1758 occurred during spring and after upwelling events at 20-m depth in the Red Sea (BT = 23°C)(Alamaru et al, 2009) Sexton et al (2010). reported a jelly-fall of Chrysaora quinquecirrha Desor 1848 medusae in a shallow subestuary of Chesapeake Bay during autumn.…”

It pays to have a big mouth: mushroom corals ingesting salps at northwest Borneo

“…It was recently discovered that individuals of the monostomatous fungiid Danafungia scruposa are able to prey on large jellyfish (diameter up to 12 cm) in the Red Sea (Alamaru et al 2009). In an earlier anecdotal account based on an aquarium experiment, it was reported that the mushroom coral Heliofungia actiniformis is able to use its long tentacles to predate on 1.5 cm long damselfish (Sisson 1973).…”