The effects of recreational Paracentrotus lividus fishing on distribution patterns of sea urchins at Ustica Island MPA (Western Mediterranean, Italy)

Gianguzza, Paola; Chiantore, Mariachiara; Bonaviri, Chiara; Cattaneo‐Vietti, Riccardo; Vielmini, Ilaria; Riggio, Silvano

doi:10.1016/j.fishres.2006.06.002

Cited by 77 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 33 publications

(45 reference statements)

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“…For example, the removal of Paracentrotus lividus had no effect and did not trigger an increase of the population of A. lixula (Gianguzza et al 2006), as would be ex pected if inter-specific competition occurred between both species. Artificially reducing or increasing the density of A. lixula in selected patches had no effect on the percent cover of encrusting corallines (Benedetti-Cecchi et al 1998, Bulleri et al 1999), but the removal of A. lixula produced an increase in the density of Balanus perforatus and a decrease in the density of limpets (Bulleri et al 1999), opposite to what would be expected if A. lixula was an herbivorous consumer of filamentous algae and trophic competitor of Patella sp.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 84%

A wolf in sheep’s clothing: carnivory in dominant sea urchins in the Mediterranean

Wangensteen¹,

Turon²,

García-Cisneros³

et al. 2011

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Arbacia lixula and Paracentrotus lividus are the dominant sea urchins in the Mediterranean sublittoral, where they are key structuring species due to their grazing activity. It has been commonly accepted that competition between both species is minimized by specializing in different algal foods. A. lixula is considered to feed mainly on encrusting coralline algae, while P. lividus prefers fleshy macroalgae. We used stable isotope analysis to test if these species occupy different trophic positions at 3 locations in the western Mediterranean and one in Macaronesia. Our results show unambiguously that A. lixula always occupies a higher trophic level than P. lividus, with a δ 15 N comparable in some locations to strict carnivores such as Actinia schmidti or Marthasterias glacialis. A temporal monitoring at one locality showed that this signature of a higher trophic level is consistent throughout the year. These results are incompatible with the current belief of an herbivorous diet for A. lixula and suggest that it must be considered an omnivore tending to carnivory in Mediterranean ecosystems, feeding at least partially on sessile animals such as Cirripedia, Hydrozoa or Bryozoa. A parallel analysis of gut contents showed a predominance of vegetal items in both species, although A. lixula consistently had a higher abundance of animal components than P. lividus. Our results challenge the validity of using gut content observations alone for characterizing the trophic behaviour of omnivorous marine invertebrates that feed on a variety of food sources with different digestibility. KEY WORDS: Arbacia lixula · Paracentrotus lividus · Trophic relationships · Benthic community · Stable isotope analysis. Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisherMar Ecol Prog Ser 441: [117][118][119][120][121][122][123][124][125][126][127][128] 2011 This herbivorous behaviour described in Arbacia lixula is, however, in sharp contrast with other species in the genus Arbacia, where omnivorous or unambiguously carnivorous diets have been reported. North American A. punctulata feeds on sessile invertebrate species, sand dollars and other Arbacia individuals, as well as some algae (Harvey 1956, Karlson 1978, Cobb & Lawrence 2005. The diet of South Atlantic A. dufresnei is mainly carnivorous (Penchaszadeh 1979, Penchaszadeh & Lawrence 1999. The Pacific A. spatuligera showed preference for animal food over common species of algae from its habitat (Silva et al. 2004). Moreover, some observations indicate omnivorous or carnivorous behaviour of A. lixula outside the Mediterranean (Marques 1984, Oliveira 1991, Tavares & Borzone 2005.The crucial importance of sea urchins in shaping benthic ecosystems (Lawrence 1975) has been demonstrated by many ecological experiments along the Mediterranean coasts (e.g. Benedetti-Cecchi & Cinelli 1995, Sala & Zabala 1996, Benedetti-Cecchi et al. 1998, Palacín et al. 1998a, Bulleri et al. 1999, Guidetti et al. 2004, Bonaviri et al. 2011. The underlying premise in these ...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 84%

A wolf in sheep’s clothing: carnivory in dominant sea urchins in the Mediterranean

Wangensteen¹,

Turon²,

García-Cisneros³

et al. 2011

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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“…The bottom of the no-take zone is an extensive rocky platform of gentle slope characterized by high structural complexity, which varies widely at spatial scales from centimeters to decimeters. Unlike other Mediterranean MPAs, the Ustica infralittoral zone developed in barren after protection enforcement (Gianguzza et al, 2006;Riggio and Milazzo, 2004) and until 2007 sea urchins, P. lividus and A. lixula, and encrusting corallines such as Lithophyllum spp., Pseudolithophyllum expansum, Lithothamnium spp., Mesophyllum coralloides dominated the bottom. In recent years, starfish predation reduced sea urchin abundance (Bonaviri et al, 2009;Di Trapani, 2011;Gianguzza et al, 2009a,b), likely promoting the flourishing of erect macroalgae Gianguzza et al, 2010),forming a landscape of patches of tens of meters in diameter interspersed with barren, dominated by encrusting algae, or forest, dominated by erect algae.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Functional traits of two co-occurring sea urchins across a barren/forest patch system

Agnetta

Bonaviri

Badalamenti³

et al. 2013

Journal of Sea Research

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Temperate rocky reefs may occur in two alternative states (coralline barrens and erect algal forests), whose formation and maintenance are often determined by sea urchin grazing. The two sea urchin species Paracentrotus lividus and Arbacia lixula are considered to play a similar ecological role despite their differing morphological traits and diets. The patchy mosaic areas of Ustica Island, Italy, offer an ideal environment in which to study differences in the performance of P. lividus and A. lixula in barren versus forest states. Results show that the two sea urchin species differ in diet, trophic position, grazing adaptation, movement ability and fitness in both barren and forest patches. We confirmed herbivory in P. lividus and omnivory with a strong tendency to carnivory in A. lixula. When the sea urchin escape response to a predator was triggered, P. lividus responded faster in barren and forest patches. Forest patch restricted movement, especially in A. lixula (velocity in barren ≈ 10-fold greater than in forest). A large Aristotle's lantern, indicative of durophagy, confirmed adaptation of A. lixula to barren state.

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“…This is the case at Ustica Island (La Mesa & Vacchi 1999), where densities of the edible P. lividus and the co-occuring A. lixula increased enormously after enforcement of protection in 1991. It is likely that the natural scarcity of fish predators and the ban of human harvesting favoured this process (Gianguzza et al 2006). As a consequence, a barren status spread extensively from the shallow (2 to 5 m) to moderately deep (7 to 10 m) rocky sublittoral (Riggio & Milazzo 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fish versus starfish predation in controlling sea urchin populations in Mediterranean rocky shores

Bonaviri

Fernández

Badalamenti

et al. 2009

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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The effects of recreational Paracentrotus lividus fishing on distribution patterns of sea urchins at Ustica Island MPA (Western Mediterranean, Italy)

Cited by 77 publications

References 33 publications

A wolf in sheep’s clothing: carnivory in dominant sea urchins in the Mediterranean

A wolf in sheep’s clothing: carnivory in dominant sea urchins in the Mediterranean

Functional traits of two co-occurring sea urchins across a barren/forest patch system

Fish versus starfish predation in controlling sea urchin populations in Mediterranean rocky shores

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