A mechanosensory system that controls feeding in adult Mnemiopsis

Moss, Anthony G.; Wells, Bryan; Muellner, Lisa

doi:10.1007/s10750-004-2635-y

Cited by 6 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Lacking any familiar means to sense the size of the prey that they are encountering as they lay in ambush, ctenophores need some means to accept prey of a size that they can restrain and consume and reject those items that it cannot. There is evidence that cydippid ctenophores like P. bachei are capable of autotomizing their tentilla under duress (Glynn et al, 2014;Moss et al, 2004), but subsequent regeneration of tentacular tissue introduces a significant metabolic cost (Bading et al, 2017;Maginnis, 2006). The prey capture system described by our model may help to mitigate these risks.…”

Section: · W Tentaclementioning

confidence: 99%

Colloblasts act as a biomechanical sensor for suitable prey inPleurobrachia

Townsend¹,

Merces

Castellanos

et al. 2020

Preprint

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AbstractCtenophores are a group of largely-planktonic, gelatinous carnivores whose most common method of prey capture is nearly a phylum-defining trait. Tentaculate ctenophores release an unknown proteinaceous adhesive from specialized colloblast cells lining their tentacles following prey contact with the tentacles. There exist no extant studies of the mechanical properties of colloblast adhesive. We use live microscopy techniques to visualize adhesion events between Pleurobrachia pileus colloblasts and probes of different surface chemistries in response to probing with varying contact areas. We further define two mechanisms of adhesion termination upon probe retraction. Adapting a technique for measuring surface tension, we examine the adhesive strength of tentacles in the ctenophore Pleurobrachia bachei under varying pH and bonding time conditions, and demonstrate the destructive exhaustion of colloblast adhesive release. We find that colloblast-mediated adhesion is rapid, and that the bonding process is robust against shifts in ambient pH. However, we find that the Pleurobrachia colloblast adhesive system is among the weakest biological adhesive systems yet described. We place this surprising observation into a broader ecophysiological context by modeling prey capture for prey of a range of sizes. We find that limited use of colloblast adhesive with high surface area contact is suitable both for capturing appropriately sized prey and rejecting, by detachment, prey above a certain size threshold. This allows Pleuro-brachia, lacking a mechanism to directly “see” potential prey they are interacting with, to invest in capturing only prey of an appropriate size, decreasing the risk of injury.Summary statementCtenophore colloblast adhesive is found to be strong, but few colloblasts are simultaneously active, producing a weakly-adhering system. A physical model demonstrates how such a system may filter unsuitable prey.

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Section: · W Tentaclementioning

confidence: 99%

Colloblasts act as a biomechanical sensor for suitable prey inPleurobrachia

Townsend¹,

Merces

Castellanos

et al. 2020

Preprint

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“…Such escape behaviors include altering swimming direction and speed (Kreps et al, 1997), as well as tearing away and losing tissue when caught by predators (Purcell & Cowan, 1995;Kreps et al, 1997;. Responses, such as crumpling, to remote fluid disturbances also exist (Moss et al, 2004). In contrast, escape strategies such as migration and vertical habitat shelters in response to perceived risk are virtually unexplored for ctenophores (e.g., Esser et al, 2004), despite being widespread amongst zooplankton (e.g., reviews in Ohman, 1988;Hays, 2003), including scyphozoan jellyfish (Albert, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predator-induced vertical behavior of a ctenophore

Titelman¹,

Hansson²,

Nilsen³

et al. 2012

Jellyfish Blooms IV

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Although many studies have focused on Mnemiopsis leidyi predation, little is known about the role of this ctenophore as prey when abundant in native and invaded pelagic systems. We examined the response of the ctenophore M. leidyi to the predatory ctenophore Beroe ovata in an experiment in which the two species could potentially sense each other while being physically separated. On average, M. leidyi responded to the predator's presence by increasing variability in swimming speeds and by lowering their vertical distribution. Such behavior may help explain field records of vertical migration, as well as stratified and near-bottom distributions of M. leidyi.

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“…The ability to remotely detect predators could enhance survival probability. Responses, such as crumpling, to remote fluid disturbances also exist (Moss et al, 2004). Some ctenophores possess chemoreceptors (Horridge, 1965;Kass-Simon & Hufnagel, 1992;Aronova & Alekseeva, 2002.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%