Light, shade and predation: who wins and who loses in sessile fouling communities?

Loureiro, Tainã Gonçalves; Peters, Koebraa; Robinson, Tamara B.

doi:10.1007/s12526-021-01241-5

Cited by 6 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 70 publications

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“…Environmental-based cues contributing to settlement in sessile marine invertebrate groups can be chemical-based [12,13] or physical-based [14][15][16]. Light, associated with depth or turbidity, is a physical cue that can influence larval phototaxis, thereby directing dispersal and settlement and, more broadly, distributions of marine invertebrates [17][18][19][20][21].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of photobehaviour in sponge larval dispersal and settlement

Whalan

2023

PLoS ONE

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Deciphering the behavioural ecology of adult (sessile) sponges is challenging. However, their motile larval stages afford opportunities to investigate how behaviour contributes to dispersal and selection of habitat. Light is a fundamental cue contributing to larval sponge dispersal where photoreceptive cells contribute to this process. But how universal is light as a cue to sponge larval dispersal and settlement? Behavioural choice experiments were used to test the effect of light on dispersal and settlement behaviours. Larvae of the tropical sponge species Coscinoderma mathewsi, Luffariella variabilis, Ircinia microconnulosa, and Haliclona sp., from deep (12–15 m) and shallower-water habitats (2–5 m), were used in experiments. Dispersal experiments provided a light-gradient-choice where light represented light attenuation with depth. Light treatments included white light and the spectral components of red and blue light. Settlement experiments comprised a choice between illuminated and shaded treatments. Fluorescence microscopy was used to establish the presence of fluorescent proteins associated with posterior locomotory cilia. Deeper-water species, C. mathewsi and I. microconnulosa discriminate light spectral signatures. Both species changed dispersal behaviour to light spectra as larvae aged. For C. mathewsi positive phototaxis to blue light changed to photophobic responses (all light treatments) after six hours and behaviours in I. microconnulosa changed from positive to negative phototaxis (white light) after six hours. L. variabilis, also a deeper-water species, was negatively phototactic to all light treatments. Larvae from the shallow-water species, Haliclona sp., moved towards all light wavelengths tested. There was no effect of light on settlement of the shallow-water Haliclona sp., but larvae in all three deeper-water species showed significantly higher settlement in shaded treatments. Fluorescence microscopy showed discrete fluorescent bands contiguous to posterior tufted cilia in all four species. These fluorescent bands may play a contributory role in larval photobehaviour.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of photobehaviour in sponge larval dispersal and settlement

Whalan

2023

PLoS ONE

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Fouling communities from the South African west coast are vulnerable to cooling and ocean acidification

Matikinca,

Robinson

2024

Mar. Biodivers.

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Changing temperature and ocean acidification are well-recognised consequences of climate change in marine systems. In contrast to global trends, the South African west coast is experiencing cooling due to increased frequency and intensity of upwelling. The implications of concurrent cooling and acidification for marine biota are poorly understood, particularly at the community level. This laboratory study assessed how cooling and acidification might affect fouling communities along the South African west coast. Communities were experimentally exposed to two temperatures, 13℃ (current) and 9℃ (cooling), and three pH treatments, 7.9 (current), 7.6 and 7.4, for 18 days. Cooling and acidification altered community structure. Species diversity declined in response to acidification but was not affected by cooling. This was driven by greatest loss of species at 7.4 pH. Notably, acidification reduced the abundance of both calcifying and soft-bodied taxa, highlighting the vulnerability of taxa like ascidians to acidification. Overall, these results highlight the dominant threat posed by acidification, even for alien taxa that are often perceived as resilient to climate change. Additionally, in regions experiencing cooling, acidification may pose a greater threat to fouling communities than thermal changes.

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