Role of food source and predator avoidance in habitat specialization by an octocoral-associated amphipod

Oecologia
Naoki H Kumagai

Abstract

Small marine invertebrates often use sessile organisms as microhabitats, which can provide food sources and/or serve as refugees from predators. Because of the availability of external food items such as epibionts and detritus in the marine environment, these invertebrates may not depend on the sessile organisms as sole food sources. In this study, I hypothesized that habitat specialization by a marine invertebrate is determined by factors other than food. Results of field surveys off the coast of the Izu Peninsula, on the eastern coast of Japan, showed that, with few exceptions, the distribution of the amphipod Incisocalliope symbioticus was restricted to the octocoral Melithaea flabellifera. When presented with several habitat options, I. symbioticus selected M. flabellifera most frequently, although some individuals chose the octocoral Acabaria japonica. The selection was proximately determined by water-borne cues from M. flabellifera that appear to be unrelated to the octocoral as a food source, since the amphipod preferred detritus to the octocoral. As a chemical refuge, M. flabellifera had an allelopathic effect that deterred fish predation on the exposed epifauna. With regard to octocoral habitat in the study area, I. sy...Continue Reading

References

Apr 29, 2000·The Biological Bulletin·R K Zimmer, C A Butman
May 29, 2000·The American Naturalist·John J Stachowicz, Mark E Hay
Aug 26, 2000·Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology· KohY W Tan
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Citations

Apr 3, 2012·Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution·Catalina Aguilar-HurtadoJames D Reimer
Dec 3, 2010·Natural Product Reports·Valerie J PaulKoty Sharp
Jun 28, 2017·Critical Reviews in Biotechnology·Jean-Baptiste Ledoux, Agostinho Antunes

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