Seasonal Abundance, Spatial Distribution, Spawning and Growth of Astropecten irregularis (Echinodermata: Asteroidea)

Freeman, S.M.; Richardson, Christopher A.; Seed, Raymond B.

doi:10.1006/ecss.2000.0758

Cited by 51 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…showed that it was dominated by A. americanus, but due to an oversight, no sea star subsample was taken), indicating that aggregations of these sea stars can per-sist for several years. Boesch (1979) Some species of Astropecten may seasonally migrate (Pabst & Vicentini 1978, Nojima 1983, Lemmens et al 1995, Freeman et al 2001. The populations in each of these cases were near-shore, where the environment can change substantially, with horizontal movements on the order of hundreds of meters.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of sea stars and crabs on sea scallop Placopecten magellanicus recruitment inthe Mid-Atlantic Bight (USA)

Hart¹

2006

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Relationships between recruitment of the Atlantic sea scallop Placopecten magellanicus and the abundances of 3 types of invertebrate predators, the sand star Astropecten americanus, the common sea stars Asterias spp. and the crabs Cancer spp., were investigated using data from large-scale scallop surveys in the Mid-Atlantic Bight (USA). Both asteroid groups appeared to reduce sea scallop recruitment, with significantly lower recruitment in areas where the sea stars were in high abundance. No significant effect of Cancer spp. crabs on scallop recruitment was detected. Very high densities of A. americanus, no sea scallop recruitment, and low Asterias spp. densities were observed in all stations with depths > 85 m, and in many stations between 65 and 85 m. Astropecten americanus may be a dominant component of the deep-water (> 75 m) benthic community in the Mid-Atlantic Bight that is capable of excluding both sea scallops and Asterias spp. from areas where A. americanus are highly abundant.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of sea stars and crabs on sea scallop Placopecten magellanicus recruitment inthe Mid-Atlantic Bight (USA)

Hart¹

2006

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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“…In contrast, little is known about the effects of severe winters on epifauna communities. Compared to the relatively stationary infauna, the benthic epifauna is more mobile and may, thus, be able to avoid unfavourable conditions, which is reflected in strong seasonal migration patterns of species (Boddeke 1976, Choy 1991, Freeman et al 2001.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of cold winters and climate on the temporal variability of an epibenthic community in the German Bight

Neumann¹,

Ehrich²,

Kröncke³

2008

Clim. Res.

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Benthic epifauna was sampled in an area of 10 ×10 nautical miles in the German Bight. Samples were collected in January and July/August from 1998 to 2007 with a standard 2 m beam trawl. The epibenthic communities were severely affected by the cold winter in 1995-1996, which also resulted in high abundance and biomass of the opportunistic brittle star Ophiura albida, in connection with low diversity observed at the beginning of our study period. In the following years winter bottom temperature increased simultaneously with the decrease of O. albida and the increase in abundance and biomass of other species. It appears that these changes were caused by trophic interactions as well as mild winters, which resulted in lower mortality, higher reproduction and higher food supply for benthic fauna due to enhanced primary production. Additionally diversity increased and species such as Astropecten irregularis, Corystes cassivelaunus, Crangon crangon and Crangon allmanni revealed distinct seasonal patterns caused by migration, mortality and reproduction cycles. The changes in community structure are discussed in relation to the general warming trend of the North Sea, which is linked to a phase of continuously increasing North Atlantic Oscillation Index (NAOI) since the late 1980s. We found evidence that climatic variability influenced recruitment success, mortality and migration patterns of epifaunal species.

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“…Although the recruitment of Astropecten is unpredictable (Christensen, 1970), for the species A. irregularis an increase in the abundance of juveniles has been reported in fall (Freeman, Richardson & Seed, 2001). Otherwise, the absence of large individuals of A. latespinosus during winter could be related to offshore migration (Nojima, 1983), which Modi ed Morisita's Similarity was also observed in other coastal echinoderms (Borzone, 1999).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Variaciones estacionales en el tamaño corporal y dieta de la estrella de mar Astropecten marginatus (Paxillosida, Astropectinidae) frente a la costa de Paraná, sur de Brasil

Guilherme

2013

RBT

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Abstract:The sea star Astropecten marginatus has a neotropical distribution and is a highly abundant and frequent species in shrimp trawling by-catchin many places along the Brazilian coast. This has caused its threat to extinction and in addition, its bio-ecological aspects are poorly known. Thus, the main objective of this study was to analyze the seasonal variations of population length structure and feeding habits of the sea stars A. marginatus inhabiting off state of Paraná, Southern Brazil. The analyzed specimens were collected in February (summer), April (fall), June (winter) and October (spring) of 2008 from shrimp by-catch trawling. in the laboratory, each individual had its length measured and then weighed on an analytical scale. Afterwards, the stomach contents of 10 individuals of each of two most frequent length classes were seasonally analyzed. The relative frequency and abundance for each prey category was determined and, then combined into an index of alimentary importance. A total of 994 individuals of A. marginatus were collected with length ranging from 7.0 to 56.2mm, but most individuals were in the 20.1-25mm length classes. individuals larger than 40mm were only collected in the spring while a few recruits (<10mm) were found in fall and winter. The total weight of individuals ranged from 0.1 to 15.3g and the weight-length relationships showed a negative allometric growth (b<2.54). Regarding its food consumption, this sea star explored eleven food items, with cumaceans and mollusks as the most frequent items. High frequency of empty stomach was recorded at fall. Seasonal differences in the amount explored preys and ingested items as well as in the prey composition were also observed. Higher amount of explored prey categories and ingested items were recorded at winter-spring than summer-fall periods. Predominance in prey category changed from gastropods (summer and fall) to cumaceans (winter and spring). The importance of gastropods as main prey category at summer and fall should be carefully considered since it was coincidently observed with high frequency of empty stomach and low amount of ingested items. The observed seasonal differences in feeding behavior pattern were mainly associated to low prey availability and to changes in the sea star feeding rates, and probably reflected in some biological traits such as small body size of the population inhabiting waters off the Paraná coast, Southern Brazil. Rev. Biol. Trop. 62 (1): 59-68. Epub 2014 March 01.

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Seasonal Abundance, Spatial Distribution, Spawning and Growth of Astropecten irregularis (Echinodermata: Asteroidea)

Cited by 51 publications

References 28 publications

Effects of sea stars and crabs on sea scallop Placopecten magellanicus recruitment inthe Mid-Atlantic Bight (USA)

Effects of sea stars and crabs on sea scallop Placopecten magellanicus recruitment inthe Mid-Atlantic Bight (USA)

Effects of cold winters and climate on the temporal variability of an epibenthic community in the German Bight

Variaciones estacionales en el tamaño corporal y dieta de la estrella de mar Astropecten marginatus (Paxillosida, Astropectinidae) frente a la costa de Paraná, sur de Brasil

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