Host-Specific Phenotypic Plasticity of the Turtle Barnacle Chelonibia testudinaria: A Widespread Generalist Rather than a Specialist

Cheang, Chi Chiu; Tsang, Ling Ming; Chu, Ka Hou; Cheng, I-Jiunn; Chan, Benny K. K.

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0057592

Cited by 48 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…Finally, there was a group of 27 facultative commensal taxa that, in addition to turtles, are usually reported on a variety of non-living substrates. This group included nine barnacles, five bivalves, three amphipods, four polychaetes, one gastropod, one decapod, one copepod, one isopod, one hydrozoan and one bryozoan (Table 2) (Cheang et al, 2013) indicates that C. patula and C. testudinaria are conspecific. However, we leave both taxa apart to provide more information about the morphs of C. testudinaria occurring in turtles.…”

Section: R E S U L T Smentioning

confidence: 99%

Epibiont communities of loggerhead marine turtles (Caretta caretta) in the western Mediterranean: influence of geographic and ecological factors

et al. 2014

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This study reports for the first time on the whole epibiont fauna of loggerhead marine turtles, Caretta caretta, in the western Mediterranean, analysing the factors that account for the predictability and composition of the assemblage. A total of 104 loggerhead turtles stranded along the coasts of eastern Spain during 1995-2006 were surveyed for epibionts. A total of 39 epibiont taxa were identified, three of them being new records for loggerhead turtles: Bittium sp., Idotea metallica and Jassa sp. The assemblage was composed of a group of 27 facultative taxa that use turtles as any inanimate buoyant substrate, and 12 taxa that have developed more specific associations to marine turtles, including six species that occur in marine turtles exclusively, two that dwell also on other hosts, and four that can also survive as free-living forms but have developed a strong association with marine turtles. Hierarchical clustering and Similarity Profile Analysis based on the occurrence of 166 epibiont taxa from nine available surveys indicated that the epibiont assemblages from loggerhead turtles in the western Mediterranean (WM) are similar to those from Central Mediterranean (CM), but significantly different from turtles surveyed in the eastern Mediterranean and the Atlantic. The subset of epibionts occurring on WM and CM turtles is defined by a combination of geographic factors (exclusive Mediterranean epibiont taxa) and ecological factors (relative absence of littoralbenthic taxa). Loggerhead turtles from WM and CM apparently exploit both pelagic and benthic habitats in similar fashion, representing a homogeneous unit for epibiont recruitment. R. (2005) Size at male maturity, sexing methods and adult sex ratio in loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) from Italian waters investigated through tail measurements. . (2014) Deconstructing an assemblage of "turtle" barnacles: species assignments and fickle fidelity in Chelonibia. Marine Biology 161, 45-59. and Zibrowius H. (1971) Les espèces Méditerranéennes du genre Hydroides (Polychaeta Serpulidae): remarques sur le prétendu polymorphisme de Hydroides uncinata. Tethys 2, 691-746.

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Section: R E S U L T Smentioning

confidence: 99%

Epibiont communities of loggerhead marine turtles (Caretta caretta) in the western Mediterranean: influence of geographic and ecological factors

et al. 2014

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“…Chelonibia testudinaria , now synonymous with C. patula (Ranzani ) and C. manati Gruvel (Cheang et al . ; Zardus et al . ), occurs circumtropically on turtles, manatees, crabs and horseshoe crabs (Hayashi ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this study, we characterized the mating system of the androdioecious barnacle Chelonibia testudinaria (Linnaeus 1758). Chelonibia testudinaria, now synonymous with C. patula (Ranzani 1818) and C. manati Gruvel 1903(Cheang et al 2013Zardus et al 2014), occurs circumtropically on turtles, manatees, crabs and horseshoe crabs (Hayashi 2013). Males in the system are dwarfed and attached to larger hermaphrodites (Zardus & Hadfield 2004;Ewers-Saucedo et al 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The unexpected mating system of the androdioecious barnacle Chelonibia testudinaria (Linnaeus 1758)

2016

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Androdioecy was first described by Darwin in his seminal work on barnacle diversity; he identified males and hermaphrodites in the same reproductive population. Today, we realize that many androdioecious plants and animals share astonishing similarities, particularly with regard to their evolutionary history and mating system. Notably, these species were ancestrally dioecious, and their mating system has the following characteristics: hermaphrodites self-fertilize frequently, males are more successful in large mating groups, and males have a mating advantage. A male mating advantage makes androdioecy more likely to persist over evolutionary times. Androdioecious barnacles, however, appear to persist as an outlier with a different evolutionary trajectory: they originate from hermaphroditic species. Although sexual systems of androdioecious barnacles are known, no information on the mating system of androdioecious barnacles is available. This study assessed the mating system of the androdioecious barnacle Chelonibia testudinaria. In contrast to other androdioecious species, C. testudinaria does not self-fertilize, males do not have a mating advantage over hermaphrodites, and the average mating group is quite small, averaging only three individuals. Mating success is increased by proximity to the mate and penis length. Taken together, the mating system of C. testudinaria is unusual in comparison with other androdioecious plants and animals, and the lack of a male mating advantage suggests that the mating system alone does not provide an explanation for the maintenance of androdioecy in this species. Instead, we propose that sex-specific life history equalizes male and hermaphroditic overall fitness.

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“…Snakes are highly plastic organisms with respect to environmental factors (Ford & Seigel, ; Aubret et al ., ; Bronikowski & Vleck, ). Similar results were reported in barnacles where strong differences in shells’ morphology were observed among colonies despite a lack of SGS (Cheang et al ., ). Moreover, as phenotypic plasticity is able to limit genetic differentiation among individuals (Pertoldi et al ., ), it may have hampered genetic structure establishment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Phenotypic variation contrasts with genetic homogeneity across scattered sea snake colonies

Bech

Foucart

Fauvel

et al. 2016

Journal of Biogeography

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International audienceAim In philopatric species distributed across wide geographical areas, eachpopulation is influenced by local factors. We assessed the expected spatialgenetic and phenotypic structure across a set of colonies of a highly philopatricsea snake.Location South Lagoon of New Caledonia, Western Pacific Ocean.Methods We used body size (N = 4915 individuals) to assess phenotypic variationsacross 11 islet colonies of the amphibious sea kraits (L. saintgironsi)spread throughout the South Lagoon of New Caledonia. We also used 11microsatellite markers in a subsample of 302 individuals to examine the demographichistory and genetic structure.Results A major colonization event and rapid population expansion occurredduring the mid-Pleistocene. Mean body size increased significantly along thenorth–south gradient investigated, suggesting that each colony is relativelyindependent and responds to local conditions. However, our data revealed atotal lack of genetic structure despite a substantial genetic diversity.Main conclusions A peculiar reproductive system likely underlies this patternthat combines a marked phenotypic gradient with a lack of geographicalgenetic structure. Gravid females from colonies scattered throughout the SouthLagoon converge towards few communal coastal nesting sites to lay their eggs.Hatchlings disperse randomly in the lagoon and supply islets with recruits.This process homogenizes the overall genetic structure. However, because whensettled snakes are philopatric, the mean body size of each colony presumablyreflects the influence of local conditions. This system resembles those documentedin various organisms (e.g. fish) but was not previously described inany amniotic lineage

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Host-Specific Phenotypic Plasticity of the Turtle Barnacle Chelonibia testudinaria: A Widespread Generalist Rather than a Specialist

Cited by 48 publications

References 62 publications

Epibiont communities of loggerhead marine turtles (Caretta caretta) in the western Mediterranean: influence of geographic and ecological factors

Epibiont communities of loggerhead marine turtles (Caretta caretta) in the western Mediterranean: influence of geographic and ecological factors

The unexpected mating system of the androdioecious barnacle Chelonibia testudinaria (Linnaeus 1758)

Phenotypic variation contrasts with genetic homogeneity across scattered sea snake colonies

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