Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-s2hrs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T08:16:56.493Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Habitat use by the gnathiid isopod Elaphognathia discolor living in terebellid polychaete tubes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2008

Katsuhiko Tanaka  and
Eijiroh Nishi
Katsuhiko Tanaka*
Affiliation:
Environmental Science Research Laboratory, Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry, 1646 Abiko, Abiko-shi, Chiba-ken 270-1194, Japan
Eijiroh Nishi
Affiliation:
Manazuru Marine Laboratory, Yokohama National University, Manazuru, Kanagawa 259-0202, Japan
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Katsuhiko TanakaEnvironmental Science Research Laboratory Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry1646 Abiko, Abiko-shi Chiba-ken 270-1194Japan email: ktanaka@criepi.denken.or.jp
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The pattern of habitat utilization by Elaphognathia discolor, a gnathiid isopod inhabiting terebellid polychaete tubes, was examined in bimonthly samples taken between June 2003 and April 2004 from Shizugawa Bay, north-eastern Japan. Nine species of terebellid polychaetes were obtained, and gnathiids were found in tubes of four terebellid species. Of the terebellids, Nicolea gracilibranchis was collected in each sample, while the other species were obtained only intermittently. Both larval and adult E. discolor inhabited the tubes of N. gracilibranchis throughout the year, with their prevalence in samples ranging from 57.1 to 80.0%. A large range of larval stages was found within N. gracilibranchis tubes, including the first larval stage and premature females, suggesting that this gnathiid species may use N. gracilibranchis tubes for resting and moulting throughout the larval period. The distribution of adult gnathiids within tubes significantly differed from random. Adult males rarely coexisted with other males in tubes, while several larvae and females often lived together. Groups of female gnathiids in polychaete tubes were usually attended by a single male, resembling the ‘harems’ observed in other gnathiids and suggesting that the mating system of E. discolor can be classified as semelparous harem polygynandry.

Keywords

gnathid isopodterebellid polychaetehabitat utilizationharem formation
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 88 , Issue 1 , February 2008 , pp. 57 - 63
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

Amanieu, M. (1963) Evolution des populations de Paragnathia formica (Hesse) au cours d'un cycle annuel. Bulletin de l'Institut Océanographique, Monaco 60, 1–12.Google Scholar
Arnal, C. and Côté, I.M. (2000) Diet of broadstripe cleaning gobies on a Barbadian reef. Journal of Fish Biology 57, 1075–1082.Google Scholar
Arnal, C. and Morand, S. (2001) Importance of ectoparasites and mucus in cleaning interactions in the Mediterranean cleaner wrasse Symphodus melanocerucus. Marine Biology 138, 777–784.Google Scholar
Baeza, J.A. and Stotz, W.B. (2001) Host-use pattern and host-selection during ontogeny of the commensal crab Allopetrolisthes spinifrons (H. Milne-Edwards, 1837) (Decapoda: Anomura: Porcellanidae). Journal of Natural History 35, 341–355.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baeza, J.A., Stotz, W. and Thiel, M. (2001) Life history of Allopetrolisthes spinifrons, a crab associate of the sea anemone Phymactis clematis. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 81, 69–76.Google Scholar
Barnard, K.H. (1914) Contributions to the crustacean fauna of South Africa. 3. Additions to the marine Isopoda, with notes on some previously incompletely known species. Annals of the South African Museum 10, 325a–358a, 359–442.Google Scholar
Barthel, D. and Brandt, A. (1995) Caecognathia robusta (G.O. Sars, 1879) (Crustacea, Isopoda) in Geodia mesotriaena (Hentschel, 1929) (Demospongiae, Choristida) at 75° N off NE Greenland. Sarsia 80, 223–228.Google Scholar
Cohen, B.F. and Poore, G.C.B. (1994) Phylogeny and biogeography of the Gnathiidae (Crustacea: Isopoda) with descriptions of new genera and species, most from south-eastern Australia. Memoirs of the Museum of Victoria 54, 271–397.Google Scholar
Davies, A.J. and Smit, N. (2001) The life cycle of Haemogregarina bigemina (Adeleina: Haemogregarinidae) in South African hosts. Folia Parasitologica 48, 169–177.Google Scholar
Emlen, S.T. and Oring, L.W. (1977) Ecology, sexual selection, and the evolution of mating systems. Science, New York 197, 215–223.Google Scholar
Grutter, A. (1995) Relationship between cleaning rates and ectoparasite loads in coral reef fishes. Marine Ecology Progress Series 118, 51–58.Google Scholar
Grutter, A. (1996) Parasite removal rates by the cleaner wrasse Labroides dimidiatus. Marine Ecology Progress Series 130, 61–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grutter, A. (1999) Cleaner fish really do clean. Nature, London 398, 672–673.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hesse, E. (1864) Mémoires sur les pranizes et les ancés et sur les moyens curieux à l'aide desquels certains crustacés parasites assurent la conservation de leur espèce. Mémoires des Savants Etrangers Présentés à l'Académie des Sciences, Paris 18, 231–302.Google Scholar
Holdich, D.M. and Harrison, K. (1980) The crustacean isopod genus Gnathia Leach from Queensland waters with descriptions of nine new species. Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 31, 215–240.Google Scholar
Jormalainen, V. (1998) Precopulatory mate guarding in crustaceans: male competitive strategy and intersexual conflict. Quarterly Review of Biology 73, 275–304.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klitgaard, A.B. (1991) Gnathia abyssorum (G.O. Sars, 1872) (Crustacea, Isopoda) associated with sponges. Sarsia 76, 33–39.Google Scholar
Klitgaard, A.B. (1997) The distribution and habitats in the North Atlantic of two gnathiid species (Crustacea, Isopoda) and their reproductive biology in the Denmark Strait and north of Iceland. Meddelelsser om Grønland, Bioscience 47, 1–32.Google Scholar
Krebs, C.J. (1989) Ecological methodology. New York: Harper Collins.Google Scholar
Monod, T. (1926) Les Gnathiidae. Mémoires de la Société des Sciences Naturelles du Maroc 13, 1–668.Google Scholar
Mouchet, S. (1928) Note sur le cycle évolutif des Gnathiidae. Bulletin de la Société Zoologique de France 53, 392–400.Google Scholar
Nunomura, N. (1988) New species of Gnathia (Crustacea, Isopoda) from the sea of Ibaragi, central Japan. Bulletin of the Toyama Science Museum 12, 27–28.Google Scholar
Nunomura, N. (1992) Marine Isopoda from Amakusa, Kyushu (II). Publications from the Amakusa Biological Laboratory, Kyushu University 11, 59–71.Google Scholar
Shuster, S.M. and Wade, M.J. (2003) Mating systems and strategies. New Jersey: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Smit, N., Basson, L. and Van As, J.G. (2003) Life cycle of the temporary fish parasite, Gnathia africana (Crustacea: Isopoda: Gnathiidae). Folia Parasitologica 50, 135–142.Google Scholar
Smit, N.J., Van As, J.G. and Basson, L. (1999) A redescription of the adult male and praniza of Gnathia africana Barnard, 1914 (Crustacea, Isopoda, Gnathiidae) from southern Africa. Folia Parasitologica 46, 229–240.Google Scholar
Smith, G. (1904) Metamorphosis and life-history of Gnathia maxillaris. Mitteilungen aus der Zoologischen Station zu Neapel 16, 469–474.Google Scholar
Stoll, C. (1962) Cycle évolutif de Paragnathia formica (Hesse) (Isopodes—Gnathiidae). Cahiers de Biologie Marine 3, 401–415.Google Scholar
Tanaka, K. (2003) Population dynamics of the sponge-dwelling gnathiid isopod Elaphognathia cornigera. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 83, 95–102.Google Scholar
Tanaka, K. and Aoki, M. (1998) Crustacean infauna of the demosponge Halichondria okadai (Kadota) with reference to the life cycle of Gnathia sp. (Isopoda: Gnathiidea). In Watanabe, Y. and Fusetani, N. (ed.) Sponge science—multidisciplinary perspectives. Tokyo: Springer-Verlag, pp. 259–267.Google Scholar
Tanaka, K. and Aoki, M. (2000) Seasonal trait of reproduction in a gnathiid isopod Elaphognathia cornigera (Nunomura, 1992). Zoological Science 17, 467–475.Google Scholar
Thiel, M. (2002) Reproductive biology of a small isopod symbiont living on a large isopod host: from the maternal marsupium to the protective grip of guarding males. Marine Biology 141, 175–183.Google Scholar
Upton, N.P.D. (1987a) Asynchronous male and female life cycles in the sexually dimorphic, harem-forming isopod Paragnathia formica (Crustacea: Isopoda). Journal of Zoology 212, 677–690.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Upton, N.P.D. (1987b) Gregarious larval settlement within a restricted intertidal zone and sex differences in subsequent mortality in the polygynous saltmarsh isopod Paragnathia formica (Crustacea: Isopod). Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 67, 663–678.Google Scholar
Wägele, J.-W. (1988) Aspects of the life-cycle of the Antarctic fish parasite Gnathia calva Vanhöffen (Crustacea: Isopoda). Polar Biology 8, 287–291.Google Scholar
Wilson, G.D.F. (1991) Functional morphology and evolution of isopod genitalia. In Bauer, R.T. and Martin, J.W. (ed.) Crustaean sexual biology. New York: Columbia University Press, pp. 228–245.CrossRefGoogle Scholar