Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-11T03:53:00.519Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Life history traits and ecological conditions influencing the symbiotic relationship between the flatworm Stylochoplana pusilla and host snail Monodonta labio

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 August 2015

Yuta Fujiwara ,
Tomoya Iwata ,
Jotaro Urabe  and
Satoshi Takeda
Yuta Fujiwara*
Affiliation:
Research Center for Marine Biology, Graduate School of Life Science, Tohoku University, Asamushi, Aomori 039-3501, Japan
Tomoya Iwata
Affiliation:
Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, Yamanashi University, Kofu 400-8510, Japan
Jotaro Urabe
Affiliation:
Research Center for Marine Biology, Graduate School of Life Science, Tohoku University, Asamushi, Aomori 039-3501, Japan Graduate School of Life Science, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8578, Japan
Satoshi Takeda
Affiliation:
Research Center for Marine Biology, Graduate School of Life Science, Tohoku University, Asamushi, Aomori 039-3501, Japan
*
Correspondence should be addressed to:Y. Fujiwara, Research Center for Marine Biology, Graduate School of Life Science, Tohoku University, Asamushi, Aomori 039-3501, Japan email: hitsuji0325@hotmail.co.jp
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Clarification of the life-history traits of a symbiont and its host is necessary to evaluate the relationship between them. Stylochoplana pusilla, a polyclad, inhabits the mantle cavity of the eulittoral snail Monodonta labio. This study elucidated the life-history traits of S. pusilla relative to those of M. labio in a tide pool, which retained seawater, and a boulder shore, which was dry at low tide, in Mutsu Bay, northern Japan, from 2010 to 2012. In these habitats, S. pusilla was semelparous with a 1-year life cycle; it reproduced in midsummer and inhabited the shell of M. labio except for the early juvenile stages, which were planktonic. More juvenile S. pusilla newly settled on hosts in the tide pool than on the boulder shore, however, their survival rate was higher on the boulder shore compared with the tide pool. The growth rate of juvenile S. pusilla was higher in the tide pool than on the boulder shore. The higher growth rate of S. pusilla at the tide pool suggested that they were more actively feeding. Stable isotope analysis showed that S. pusilla acquired food resources outside the host snail both in the tide pool and on the boulder shore. Thus, it was likely that S. pusilla engaged in feeding outside the host snails but resulted in lower survival rates at the tide pool. These results suggest that S. pusilla is semi-free living and uses M. labio as a refuge in the eulittoral zone for protection against desiccation.

Keywords

eulittoralflatwormlife historyMonodonta labioPolycladStylochoplana pusillasymbiosis
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 96 , Issue 3 , May 2016 , pp. 667 - 672
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2015 

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

Castro, G.A. (1991) A physiological perspective: physiological adaptations in host-parasite system. In Toft, C.A., Aeschlimann, A. and Bolis, L. (eds) Parasite-host associations: coexistence or conflict? Oxford: Oxford Science, pp. 356–375.Google Scholar
Combes, C. (1991) Evolution of parasite life-cycles. In Toft, C.A., Aeschlimann, A. and Bolis, L. (eds) Parasite-host associations: coexistence or conflict? Oxford: Oxford Science, pp. 62–82.Google Scholar
Connell, J.H. (1972) Community interactions on marine rocky intertidal shores. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics 3, 169–192.Google Scholar
Crompton, D.W.T. (1991) Nutritional interactions between hosts and parasites. In Toft, C.A., Aeschlimann, A. and Bolis, L. (eds) Parasite-host associations: coexistence or conflict? Oxford: Oxford Science, pp. 228–258.Google Scholar
Deguchi, R., Sasaki, H., Iwata, K. and Echizen, M. (2009) Reproduction and life cycle of the polyclad flatworm. Bulletin Miyagi University Education 44, 53–61. [In Japanese.]Google Scholar
Fujiwara, Y., Urabe, J. and Takeda, S. (2014) Host preference of a symbiotic flatworm in relation to the ecology of littoral snails. Marine Biology 161, 1873–1882.Google Scholar
Kato, K. (1933) On Stylochoplana pusilla Bock. Doubutugaku Zasshi 45, 487–490. [In Japanese.]Google Scholar
Kato, K. (1965) Stylochoplana pusilla Bock. In Okada, K. (ed.) New illustrated encyclopedia of the fauna of Japan, Volume 1. Tokyo: Hokuryukan, 324 pp. [In Japanese.]Google Scholar
Menge, B.A. and Branch, G.M. (2001) Rocky intertidal communities. In Bertness, M.D., Gaines, S.D. and Hay, M.E. (eds) Marine community ecology. Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates, pp. 221–252.Google Scholar
Perez, K.O., Carlson, R.L., Shulman, M.J. and Ellis, J.C. (2009) Why are intertidal snails rare in the subtidal? Predation, growth and the vertical distribution of Littorina littorea (L.) in the Gulf of Maine. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 369, 79–86.Google Scholar
R Development Core Team (2005) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. Vienna: R Foundation for Statistical Computing. ISBN 3-900051-07-0, http://www.R-project.org.Google Scholar
Sreeraj, C.R. and Raghunathan, C. (2013) Pseudocerotid polyclads (Platyhelminthes, Turbellaria, Polycladida) from Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India. Proceedings of the International Academy of Ecology and Environmental Science 3, 36–41.Google Scholar
Takada, Y. (1995) Variation of growth rate with tidal level in the gastropod Monodonta labio on a boulder shore. Marine Ecology Progress Series 117, 103–110.Google Scholar
Takada, Y. (1996) Vertical migration during the life history of the intertidal gastropod Monodonta labio on a boulder shore. Marine Ecology Progress Series 130, 117–123.Google Scholar
Trouve, S., Sasal, P., Jourdane, J., Renaud, F. and Morand, S. (1998) The evolution of life-history traits in parasitic and free-living Platyhelminthes: a new perspective. Oecologia 115, 370–378.Google Scholar