MECHANISMS RECONCILING GREGARIOUS LARVAL SETTLEMENT WITH ADULT CANNIBALISM

Marine benthic invertebrates living in dense, intraspecific aggregations are important community members because they provide structural habitat for other species. Here, we determined the mechanisms that facilitate gregarious larval settlement and promote group living. Using suspension‐feeding oyste...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ecological Monographs
Main Authors: Tamburri, Mario N., Zimmer, Richard K., Zimmer, Cheryl Ann
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2007
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/06-1074
https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1890%2F06-1074
https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1890/06-1074
id crwiley:10.1890/06-1074
record_format openpolar
spelling crwiley:10.1890/06-1074 2024-10-13T14:06:47+00:00 MECHANISMS RECONCILING GREGARIOUS LARVAL SETTLEMENT WITH ADULT CANNIBALISM Tamburri, Mario N. Zimmer, Richard K. Zimmer, Cheryl Ann 2007 http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/06-1074 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1890%2F06-1074 https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1890/06-1074 en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Ecological Monographs volume 77, issue 2, page 255-268 ISSN 0012-9615 1557-7015 journal-article 2007 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1890/06-1074 2024-09-17T04:48:51Z Marine benthic invertebrates living in dense, intraspecific aggregations are important community members because they provide structural habitat for other species. Here, we determined the mechanisms that facilitate gregarious larval settlement and promote group living. Using suspension‐feeding oysters ( Crassostrea gigas ) residing in large assemblages (“reefs”), experiments were conducted under laboratory conditions that simulated critical aspects of natural estuarine habitats. Oyster larvae were attracted to the scent of their conspecific elders. In still‐water trials, they moved downward and settled after contacting a waterborne, adult chemical cue. Yet, mortality of larvae placed in the adult pallial cavity was very high (mean of 91.3%). This seeming paradox of larval attraction to adult cannibals was resolved via laboratory flume (2 cm/s and 6 cm/s flows) experiments. Suspension‐feeding activity did not significantly affect flow speeds or directions. Moreover, weak (mean of 1.65 mm/s) adult ciliary currents effectively entrained phytoplankton but rarely captured larvae. In fact, only a small percentage (≤4.6%) of settlers was cannibalized in flume trials, even when they passed within 1 mm of the inhalant opening, or “gape” (a narrow slit between two valves). Larvae cued by conspecifics potentially attach to any portion of the shell surface, but there is a low probability that they will land in or near the inhalant opening. On juvenile and adult oysters, for example, the mean ratio of gape to shell surface area was only 0.025. Furthermore, in surveys of juvenile/adult oysters at nine field sites (Hood Canal and eastern Olympic Peninsula, Washington, USA), the gape was ≤5.2% of the total plane surface area of the reef. Thus, an oyster larva settling onto a reef of suspension‐feeding adults is unlikely to be cannibalized. Given this low mortality risk at settlement, future fitness payoffs (e.g., improved fertilization success) may drive the evolution of a gregarious settlement cue that promotes group living. Article in Journal/Newspaper Crassostrea gigas Wiley Online Library Ecological Monographs 77 2 255 268
institution Open Polar
collection Wiley Online Library
op_collection_id crwiley
language English
description Marine benthic invertebrates living in dense, intraspecific aggregations are important community members because they provide structural habitat for other species. Here, we determined the mechanisms that facilitate gregarious larval settlement and promote group living. Using suspension‐feeding oysters ( Crassostrea gigas ) residing in large assemblages (“reefs”), experiments were conducted under laboratory conditions that simulated critical aspects of natural estuarine habitats. Oyster larvae were attracted to the scent of their conspecific elders. In still‐water trials, they moved downward and settled after contacting a waterborne, adult chemical cue. Yet, mortality of larvae placed in the adult pallial cavity was very high (mean of 91.3%). This seeming paradox of larval attraction to adult cannibals was resolved via laboratory flume (2 cm/s and 6 cm/s flows) experiments. Suspension‐feeding activity did not significantly affect flow speeds or directions. Moreover, weak (mean of 1.65 mm/s) adult ciliary currents effectively entrained phytoplankton but rarely captured larvae. In fact, only a small percentage (≤4.6%) of settlers was cannibalized in flume trials, even when they passed within 1 mm of the inhalant opening, or “gape” (a narrow slit between two valves). Larvae cued by conspecifics potentially attach to any portion of the shell surface, but there is a low probability that they will land in or near the inhalant opening. On juvenile and adult oysters, for example, the mean ratio of gape to shell surface area was only 0.025. Furthermore, in surveys of juvenile/adult oysters at nine field sites (Hood Canal and eastern Olympic Peninsula, Washington, USA), the gape was ≤5.2% of the total plane surface area of the reef. Thus, an oyster larva settling onto a reef of suspension‐feeding adults is unlikely to be cannibalized. Given this low mortality risk at settlement, future fitness payoffs (e.g., improved fertilization success) may drive the evolution of a gregarious settlement cue that promotes group living.
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Tamburri, Mario N.
Zimmer, Richard K.
Zimmer, Cheryl Ann
spellingShingle Tamburri, Mario N.
Zimmer, Richard K.
Zimmer, Cheryl Ann
MECHANISMS RECONCILING GREGARIOUS LARVAL SETTLEMENT WITH ADULT CANNIBALISM
author_facet Tamburri, Mario N.
Zimmer, Richard K.
Zimmer, Cheryl Ann
author_sort Tamburri, Mario N.
title MECHANISMS RECONCILING GREGARIOUS LARVAL SETTLEMENT WITH ADULT CANNIBALISM
title_short MECHANISMS RECONCILING GREGARIOUS LARVAL SETTLEMENT WITH ADULT CANNIBALISM
title_full MECHANISMS RECONCILING GREGARIOUS LARVAL SETTLEMENT WITH ADULT CANNIBALISM
title_fullStr MECHANISMS RECONCILING GREGARIOUS LARVAL SETTLEMENT WITH ADULT CANNIBALISM
title_full_unstemmed MECHANISMS RECONCILING GREGARIOUS LARVAL SETTLEMENT WITH ADULT CANNIBALISM
title_sort mechanisms reconciling gregarious larval settlement with adult cannibalism
publisher Wiley
publishDate 2007
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/06-1074
https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1890%2F06-1074
https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1890/06-1074
genre Crassostrea gigas
genre_facet Crassostrea gigas
op_source Ecological Monographs
volume 77, issue 2, page 255-268
ISSN 0012-9615 1557-7015
op_rights http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor
op_doi https://doi.org/10.1890/06-1074
container_title Ecological Monographs
container_volume 77
container_issue 2
container_start_page 255
op_container_end_page 268
_version_ 1812812994864742400