The association between a deep-sea gastropod Pedicularia sicula (Caenogastropoda: Pediculariidae) and its coral host Errina dabneyi (Hydrozoa: Stylasteridae) in the Azores

• Published in: ICES Journal of Marine Science
• Main Authors: Braga-Henriques, Andreia, Carreiro-Silva, Marina, Porteiro, Filipe M., de Matos, Valentina, Sampaio, Íris, Ocaña, Oscar, Ávila, Sérgio P.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press 2011
• Subjects: Articles; Northeast Atlantic
• Online Access: http://icesjms.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/68/2/399; https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsq066

<qd> Braga-Henriques, A., Carreiro-Silva, M., Porteiro, F. M., de Matos, V., Sampaio, Í., Ocaña, O., and Ávila, S., P. 2011. The association between a deep-sea gastropod Pedicularia sicula (Caenogastropoda: Pediculariidae) and its coral host Errina dabneyi (Hydrozoa: Stylasteridae) in the Azores. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 68: 399–407. </qd>The Azores region harbours the richest communities of stylasterid corals in the Northeast Atlantic area. Of the nine deep-water species found there, Errina dabneyi seems to be the most abundant species; it is commonly collected as bycatch from longline fishing. E. dabneyi host Pedicularia gastropods on their branches, and a detailed study of shell shape and morphometry at different growth stages, complemented by shell characterization through scanning electron microscopy, allows the individuals to be identified as Pedicularia sicula . The incidence of this species on E. dabneyi was high (69.8%), with abundances ranging between 1 and 223 individuals per colony. The pediculariids exhibited a high degree of plasticity and produced evident traces on the stylasterid skeletons at their fixation points, suggesting that they are ectoparasites and not predators of E. dabneyi . The stylasterid colonies also hosted a rich associated fauna dominated by suspension-feeders using the coral as substratum and for protection.