Sublethal predation:field measurements of arm tissue loss from the ophiuroid Microphiopholis gracillima and immunochemical identification of its predators in North Inlet, South Carolina, USA

Frequency of sublethal injury in a deepwater ophiuroid, Ophiacantha bidentata, an important component of western Atlantic Lophelia reef communities

“…For example, infaunal suspension and deposit-feeding species of ophiuroids have significantly more scars per arm than do epibenthic suspension feeders or epibenthic carnivores and deposit feeders at sites off the Swedish west coast (Sköld and Rosenberg ö Springer 1996). Also, burrowing amphiurid ophiuroids (e.g., Microphiopholis gracillima), which extend their arms to the surface to deposit or suspension feed, often lose portions of their arms to epibenthic predators (Pape-Lindstrom et al 1997). Although O. bidentata is an epibenthic deposit/suspension feeder, the frequencies of sublethal injury observed were more similar to those of infaunal species than those observed in other epibenthic ophiuroids.…”

“…Ophiuroid linkages in marine food webs have been documented and sublethal prédation can be a significant pathway of secondary-production energy flow (Stancyk et al 1994a;Gielazyn et al 1999). Prédation on ophiuroids by fishes, shrimps, polychaetes, asteroids, crabs, and other ophiuroids have been reported (Aronson 1987;Wassenberg and Hill 1987;Feder and Pearson 1988;Munday 1993;Pape-Lindstrom et al 1997). Thus, if injuries reflect high levels of sublethal prédation, then O. bidentata may provide a "renewable resource pool" (Stancyk et al 1994a) to the deep-water Lophelia community that may otherwise be dependent upon exogenous sources of nutrients.…”

“…Such flexibihty in feeding modes provides a conduit for transfer of energy between pelagic and benthic environments. Thus, these organisms play an important role in energy flow and secondary production through the utilization, processing, and redistribution of organic matter and subsequent transfer of organic material to higher trophic levels (Pearson and Gage 1984;Pape-Lindstrom et al 1997;Summers and Nybakken 2000).…”

“…The few studies concerning arm regeneration in deep-sea ophiuroids reported highly variable rates ranging from <3.8% for Ophiacantha abyssicola (Metaxas and Giffin 2004) to 98% for Ophiura sarsi (Stancyk et al 1994b). Prédation is the most commonly cited cause of such injuries to ophiuroids (e.g., Stewart 1996;Pape-Lindstrom et al 1997), but physical stress (Woodley et al 1981;Makra and Keegan 1999) has also been documented as an important causative agent of these injuries. Food resource levels (Clements et al 1988;Lawrence and Vasquez 1996), water chemistry parameters (Donachy and Watabe 1986;Nilsson and Sköld 1996;Talbot and Lawrence 2000) and habitat type (Sides 1987;Aronson 1989;Clements et al 1994;Rose 1997;Pomory and Lawrence 2001) can also influence injury rates and/or regeneration times.…”

Experimental evidence of subsurface feeding by the burrowing ophiuroid Amphipholis gracillima (Echinodermata)

“…Ophiuroids are frequently subjected to lethal or sublethal predation by a variety of fishes, shrimps, and crabs in many parts of the world (Blegvad 1914, Hunt 1925, Duineveld & Van Noort 1986, Feder & Pearson 1988, Theiling 1988, Pape-Lindstrom et al 1997. They are well known for their ability to rapidly regenerate tissues lost to sublethal predation (Singletary 1970, Bowmer & Keegan 1983, Stancyk et al 1994, and Pape-Lindstrom et al (1997) have demonstrated that consumption of infaunal brittlestar arms is a significant trophic pathway in some soft-sediment habitats. Warner (1982, Table 1) has summarized past ophiuroid feeding research, but much is still unknown about the more intricate aspects of their feeding habits and behaviors.…”