Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T09:06:47.241Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Does a nano-scale nipple array (moth-eye structure) suppress the settlement of ascidian larvae?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2019

Euichi Hirose Open the ORCID record for Euichi Hirose [Opens in a new window]  and
Noburu Sensui
Euichi Hirose*
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry, Biology and Marine Science, Faculty of Science, University of the Ryukyus, Nishihara, Okinawa 903-0213, Japan
Noburu Sensui
Affiliation:
Department of Human Biology and Anatomy, Graduate School of Medicine, University of the Ryukyus, Nishihara, Okinawa 903-0215, Japan
*
Author for correspondence: Euichi Hirose, E-mail: euichi@sci.u-ryukyu.ac.jp
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In some metazoans, the body surface is entirely or partly covered with an array of nipples about 100 nm or less in height. This structure, a nipple array, is sometimes called the moth-eye structure because it serves as an anti-reflection property on the compound eyes of a night moth. The nipple array is supposed to be a multifunctional structure since this structure occurs in various species across different taxa. Here, we hypothesize that the nipple array may prevent the settlement of epibionts that are often a nuisance and potentially cause serious problems for the host. Using a synthetic film that imitates the nipple array, we tested the substrate selection within ascidian larval settlement. The results indicate that the nipple array has anti-fouling properties, since more larvae settled on the flat surface than the nipple array (P < 0.01, paired t-test). The present results demonstrated that the nipple array potentially serves an anti-fouling function on the body surface, which should be important especially for sessile organisms.

Keywords

Ascidianslarval settlementmoth-eye structureMOSMITE™substrate selectionwettability
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 99 , Issue 6 , September 2019 , pp. 1393 - 1397
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2019 

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

Ballarin, L, Franchi, N, Gasparini, F, Caicci, F, Miyauchi, A and Hirose, E (2015) Suppression of cell-spreading and phagocytic activity on nano-pillared surface: in vitro experiment using hemocytes of the colonial ascidian Botryllus schlosseri. Invertebrate Survival Journal 12, 82–88.Google Scholar
Bernhard, CG (1967) Structural and functional adaptation in a visual system. Endeavour 26, 79–84.Google Scholar
Cloney, RA (1990) Larval tunic and the function of the test cells in ascidians. Acta Zoologica 71, 151–159.Google Scholar
Gerhart, DJ, Rittschof, D, Hooper, IR, Eisenman, K, Meyer, AE, Baier, RE and Young, C (1992) Rapid and inexpensive quantifications of the combined polar components of surface wettability application to biofouling. Biofouling 5, 251–259.Google Scholar
Hausen, H (2005) Comparative structure of the epidermis in polychaetes (Annelida). Hydrobiologia 535/536, 25–35.Google Scholar
Hirose, E (1999) Pigmentation and acid storage in the tunic: protective functions of the tunic cells in the tropical ascidian Phallusia nigra. Invertebrate Biology 118, 414–422.Google Scholar
Hirose, E and Uyeno, D (2014) Histopathology of a mesoparasitic hatschekiid copepod in hospite: does Mihbaicola sakamakii (Copepoda: Siphonostomatoida: Hatschekiidae) fast within the host fish tissue? Zoological Science 31, 546–552.Google Scholar
Hirose, E and Uyeno, D (2016) Regional differentiation of the cuticular surface structure in the mesoparasitic copepod Cardiodectes shini (Siphonostomatoida: Pennellidae) on a pygmy goby. Invertebrate Survival Journal 13, 134–139.Google Scholar
Hirose, E, Saito, Y, Hashimoto, K and Watanabe, H (1990) Minute protrusions of the cuticle – fine surface structures of the tunic in ascidians. Journal of Morphology 204, 67–73.Google Scholar
Hirose, E, Nishikawa, T, Saito, Y and Watanabe, H (1992) Minute protrusions of ascidian tunic cuticle – some implications for ascidian phylogeny. Zoological Science 9, 405–412.Google Scholar
Hirose, E, Lambert, G, Kusakabe, T and Nishikawa, T (1997) Tunic cuticular protrusions in ascidians (Chordata, Tunicata): a perspective of their character-state distribution. Zoological Science 14, 683–689.Google Scholar
Hirose, E, Kimura, S, Itoh, T and Nishikawa, J (1999) Tunic morphology and cellulosic components of pyrosomas, doliolids, and salps (Thaliacea, Urochordata). Biological Bulletin 196, 113–120.Google Scholar
Hirose, E, Mayama, H and Miyauchi, A (2013) Does the aquatic invertebrate nipple array prevent bubble adhesion? An experiment using nanopillar sheets. Biology Letters 9, 20130552.Google Scholar
Hirose, E, Sakai, D, Shibata, T, Nishii, J, Mayama, H, Miyauchi, A and Nishikawa, J (2015) Does the tunic nipple array serve to camouflage diurnal salps? Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 95, 1025–1031.Google Scholar
Holland, ND (1984) Echinodermata: epidermal cells. In Bereiter-Hahn, J, Matoltsy, A and Richards, K (eds), Biology of the Integument. 1. Invertebrates. Berlin: Springer, pp. 756–774.Google Scholar
Iseto, T and Hirose, E (2010) Comparative morphology of the foot structure of four genera of Loxosomatidae (Entoprocta): implications for foot functions and taxonomy. Journal of Morphology 271, 1185–1196.Google Scholar
Kakiuchida, H, Sakai, D, Nishikawa, J and Hirose, E (2017) Measurement of refractive indices of tunicates’ tunics: light reflection of the transparent integuments in an ascidian Rhopalaea sp. and a salp Thetys vagina. Zoological Letters 3, 7.Google Scholar
Matsunobu, S and Sasakura, Y (2015) Time course for tail regression during metamorphosis of the ascidian Ciona intestinalis. Developmental Biology 405, 71–81.Google Scholar
Mihm, JW, Banta, WC and Loeb, GI (1981) Effects of adsorbed organic and primary fouling films on bryozoan settlement. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 54, 167–179.Google Scholar
Qian, P-Y, Xu, Y and Fusetani, N (2009) Natural products as antifouling compounds: recent progress and future perspectives. Biofouling 26, 223–234.Google Scholar
R Core Team (2018). R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. Vienna: R Foundation for Statistical Computing. https://www.R-project.org/.Google Scholar
Rittschof, D, Forward, RB, Cannon, G, Welch, JM, McClary, M, Holm, ER, Clare, AS, Conova, S, McKelvey, LM, Bryan, P and Van Dover, CL (1998) Cues and context: larval responses to physical and chemical cues. Biofouling 12, 31–44.Google Scholar
Sakai, D, Kakiuchida, H, Nishikawa, J and Hirose, E (2018) Physical properties of the tunic in the pinkish-brown salp Pegea confoederata (Tunicata: Thaliacea). Zoological Letters 4, 7.Google Scholar
Scardino, AJ and de Nys, R (2011) Mini review: biomimetic models and bioinspired surfaces for fouling control. Biofouling 27, 73–86.Google Scholar
Slattery, M, McClintock, JB and Heine, JN (1995) Chemical defenses in antarctic soft corals: evidence for antifouling compounds. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 190, 61–77.Google Scholar
Stoecker, D (1980) Relationships between chemical defense and ecology in benthic ascidians. Marine Ecology Progress Series 3, 257–265.Google Scholar
Teo, SL-M and Ryland, J (1995) Potential antifouling mechanisms using toxic chemicals in some British ascidians. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 88, 49–62.Google Scholar
Ueki, T, Koike, K, Fukuba, I and Yamaguchi, N (2018) Structural and mass spectrometric imaging analyses of adhered tunic and adhesive projections of solitary ascidians. Zoological Science 35, 535–547.Google Scholar
Uyeno, D and Hirose, E (2018) Lomanoticola nishiharai n. sp., a new species of copepod parasitic on the facelinid nudibranch, Sakuraeolis enosimensis (Baba, 1930), from the Seto Inland Sea, Western Japan, including histological observations of the female lateral body process. Zoological Science 35, 382–387.Google Scholar
Vandepas, LE, Oliveira, LM, Lee, SSC, Hirose, E, Rocha, RM and Swalla, BJ (2015) Biogeography of Phallusia nigra: is it really black and white? Biological Bulletin 228, 52–64.Google Scholar
Wilson, SJ and Hutley, MC (1982) The optical properties of ‘moth eye’ antireflection surfaces. Optica Acta 29, 993–1009.Google Scholar