Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-j824f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-14T06:08:31.839Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

How the distribution of colonies of the hydroid Laomedea flexuosa is limited to a narrow belt along the lower littoral zone

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 October 2008

N.N. Marfenin  and
S.A. Belorustseva
N.N. Marfenin*
Affiliation:
Moscow State University, Department of Invertebrate Zoology, Biological Faculty, Moscow, Russia, 119992
S.A. Belorustseva
Affiliation:
Moscow State University, Department of Invertebrate Zoology, Biological Faculty, Moscow, Russia, 119992
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: N.N. Marfenin, Moscow State University, Department of Invertebrate Zoology, Biological Faculty, Moscow, Russia, 119992 email: marf47@mail.ru
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In the White Sea the colonial hydroid Laomedea flexuosa inhabits a narrow belt of the lower littoral zone. How is so limited a habitat determined? We studied the time of planula release and the behaviour of larvae during the free-swimming stage and settlement in natural and laboratory conditions. Three methods were used to record the tidal-dependent dynamic of planula release: (1) plankton collecting bags around Fucus distichus macrophytes with mature hydroid colonies; (2) active stirring of Fucus with hydroids in a container with water, which is an old way to stimulate planula release; and (3) direct counts of the mature planulae in gonangia. The dynamic intensity of L. flexuosa planula release was investigated according to 3–4 phases of the tidal cycle. A moment of general release of larvae was shown to be correlated with a period of low water. Following the incoming tide keeps planulae in the littoral area. The planulae of L. flexuosa have a short period of swimming (less than 30 minutes), unlike those of Gonothyrae loveni and Dynamena pumila whose swimming period is about 36 hours. Quick settlement and tidal planula release could explain the strong spatial limitation in the distribution of L. flexuosa within the lower level of the intertidal zone. It is hypothesized that distribution over large areas is most likely by drift of colonies attached to detached seaweeds. Our outlook about the biological ways of ecological niche differentiation among marine organisms is broadened by the results of this study.

Keywords

distributioncolonieshydroidsLaomedea flexuosalower littoral zone
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 88 , Special Issue 8: Hydrozoans , December 2008 , pp. 1559 - 1566
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Aldrich, J.C. (1980) Analysis of environmental gradients and patchiness in the distribution of the epiphytic marine hydroid Clava squamata Forskål. Marine Ecology Progress Series 2, 293–301.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burykin, Yu.B. and Marfenin, N.N. (1978) Attachment and metamorphosis of the Dynamena pumila planula. In Starostin, I.V. (ed.) Biopovregdeniy materialov y zashita ot nih [Biodeterioration of materials and their protection], pp. 54–66. Moscow: Nauka, pp. 54–66. [In Russian.]Google Scholar
Christy, J.H. (1982) Adaptive significance of semilunar cycles of larval release in fiddler crabs (Genus Uca): test of a hypothesis. Biological Bulletin. Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole 163, 251–263.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cornelius, P.E.S. (1995) North-west European thecate hydroids and their medusae. Synopsis of the British fauna (New Series), No. 50 Linnaen Society of London and Estuarine Coastal Sciences Association. Part 1, 347 pp.; Part 2, 386 pp.Google Scholar
Dahan, M. and Benayahu, Y. (1997) Reproduction of Dendronephthya hemprichi (Cnidaria: Octocorallia): year-round spawning in an azooxanthellate soft coral. Marine Biology (Berlin) 129, 573–579.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DeCoursey, P.J. (1983) Biological timing. The biology of Crustacea. In Vernberg, E.J. and Vernberg, W.A. (eds) Behavior and ecology/environmental adaptations. New York: Academic Press, pp. 107–161.Google Scholar
Glynn, P.W., Gassman, N.J., Eakin, C.M., Cortes, J., Smith, D.B. and Guzman, H.M. (1991) Reef coral reproduction in the eastern Pacific: Costa Rica, Panama, and Galapagos Islands (Ecuador). Marine Biology (Berlin) 109, 355–368.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goulletquer, P. and Heral, M. (1997) Marine molluscan production trends in France: from fisheries to aquaculture. In US Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Technical Reports, National Marine Fisheries Service 129, pp. 137–164.Google Scholar
Grigg, R.W. (1977) Population dynamics of two gorgonian corals. Ecology 58, 278–290.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hurlbut, C.J. (1992) Larval release and supply predict temporal variation in settlement of a colonial ascidian. Marine Ecology Progress Series 80, 215–219.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keough, M.J. and Downes, B.J. (1982) Recruitment of marine invertebrates: the role of active larval choices and early larval mortality. Oecologia 54, 348–352.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Korrinda, P. (1947) Relations between the moon and periodicity in the breeding of marine animals. Ecological Monographs (Tempe, AZ) 17, 349–381.Google Scholar
Marfenin, N.N. (1981) Some observations of the nutrition and digestive process in hydrants of different colonial hydroids. Jurnal Obshey Biologii (Journal of General Biology (Moscow)) 42, 399–408. [In Russian.]Google Scholar
Marfenin, N.N. (1993a) Functional morphology of the colonial hydroids. St Petersburg: Zoological Institute. [In Russian.]Google Scholar
Marfenin, N.N. (1993b) Phenomenon of coloniality. Moscow: Moscow University Press. [In Russian.]Google Scholar
Marfenin, N.N. and Homenko, T.N. (1989) Food spectrum of the common hydrozoan species from the White Sea. In Koltun, V.M., Marfenin, N.N. and Stepaniantz, S.D. (eds) Fundamental studies of the recent Porifera and Cnidaria. Leningrad: Zoological Institute, pp. 80–83. [In Russian.]Google Scholar
Marfenin, N.N. and Malutin, O.I. (1994) Water flow influence on the solitary stems of different hydroid species. Jurnal Obshey Biologii (Journal of General Biology (Moscow)) 55, 119–127. [In Russian.]Google Scholar
Morgan, S.C. (1995) The timing of larval release. In McEdward, L. (ed.) The ecology of marine invertebrate larvae. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, pp. 157–191.Google Scholar
Morgan, S.C. and Christy, J.H. (1994) Plasticity, constraint and optimality in reproductive timing. Ecology (Tempe, AZ) 75, 2185–2203.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morgan, S.C. and Christy, J.H. (1995) Adaptive significance of the timing of larval release by crabs. American Naturalist 145, 457–479.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Naumov, D.V. (1960) Hydroids and Hydromedusae of the USSR. Translated from the Russian edition. Jerusalem: Israel Program for Scientific Translations (1969).Google Scholar
Neumann, D. (1985) Photoperiodic influences of the moon on behavioral and developmental perfomances of organisms. International Journal of Biometeorology (Amsterdam) 29, Supplement 2, 165–177.Google Scholar
Olson, R.R. (1983) Ascidian–Prochloron symbiosis: the role of larval photoadaptations in midday larval release and settlement. Biological Bulletin. Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole 165, 221–240.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Orlov, D.V. (1994) The role of larval setting behavior in determination of the specific habitat of the hydrozoan Dynamena pumila (L.). Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 208, 73–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Orlov, D.V. (1996) Ecological conditionality of a settlement of planula of colonial hydroids. Jurnal Obshey Biologii (Journal of General Biology (Moscow)) 57, 24–30. [In Russian].Google Scholar
Orlov, D.V. and Marfenin, N.N. (1995) Behavior and settlement of planulae of Gonothyraea loveni (Allmann) (Hydroidea, Thecaphora) into littoral zone at the White Sea. In Stepanijanz, S.D. (ed.) Cnidaria. Modern status and trends in research. St Petersburg: Zoological Institution, pp. 103–120. [In Russian.]Google Scholar
Orlov, D.V., Marfenin, N.N. and Railkin, A.I. (1994) Bacterial film influence on the planulae settlement of Gonothyrea loveni (Allman) and Laomedea flexuosa (Hincks) (Hydroidea, Thecaphora). Vestnik Moscovskogo Universiteta, Seria 16 Biologia (Reports of Moscow University, Series 16 Biology) 3, 47–51. [In Russian.]Google Scholar
Railkin, A.I. (1995) Negative chemotaxis and suppression of settlement of hydroid planula caused by bacterial repellent. In Stepanijanz, S.D. (ed.) Cnidaria. Modern status and trends in research. St Petersburg: Zoological Institution, pp. 121–130. [In Russian.]Google Scholar
Railkin, A.I. (2004) Marine biofouling: colonization processes and defenses. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.Google Scholar
Saigusa, M. (1981) Adaptive significance of a semilunar rhythm in the terrestrial crab Sesarma. Biological Bulletin. Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole 160, 311–321.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Saigusa, M. (1982) Larval release rhythms coinciding with solar day and tidal cycles in the terrestrial crab Sesarma. Biological Bulletin. Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole 162, 371–386.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Saigusa, M. and Hidaka, T. (1978) Semilunar rhythm of land crabs. Oecologia (Berlin) 37, 16–176.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Salmon, M., Seiple, W.H. and Morgan, S.G. (1986) Hatching rhythms of fiddler crabs and associated species at Beaufort, North Carolina. Journal of Crustacean Biology 6, 24–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Slattery, M., Hines, G.A., Starmer, J. and Paul, V.J. (1999) Chemical signals in gametogenesis, spawning, and larval settlement and defense of the soft coral Sinularia polydactyla. Coral Reefs 18, 75–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sommer, C. (1992) Larval biology and dispersal of Eudendrium rasemosum (Hydrozoa, Eudendriidae). Scientia Marina 56, 205–211.Google Scholar
Steinberg, P.D. (1985) Feeding preferences of Tegula funebralis and chemical defenses of marine brown algae. Ecological Monographs (Tempe, AZ) 55, 333–349.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, G.B. (1965) Observations of the behaviour of the planulae larvae of Clava squamata. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 45, 257–273.CrossRefGoogle Scholar