Tetraclita (Cirripedia, Thoracica) tests as an important habitat for intertidal isopods and other marine and semi-terrestrial fauna on tropical rocky shores

Abstract

The barnaclesTetraclita singaporensisandT. squamosahave a thick test to protect the animals against the diverse environmental stress of the tropical intertidal zone and also against predation by muricid gastropods. After the death of the barnacle, however, the empty test is often taken over by other marine fauna as well as semi-terrestrial animals. The sphaeromatid isopodDynamenella ptychurawas the most abundant inhabitant in empty tests observed in Singapore and Malaysia. Ovigerous crustaceans were common. Gastropod specimens comprised almost entirely juveniles of common intertidal species, including those of the littorinidsLittoraria articulataandL. strigata. Gastropod eggs and veligers, insect larvae, pupae and nymphs, and spider spiderlings and immatures were also present. The haminoeid gastropodSmaragdinellawas the dominant animal colonizing barnacles in a succession experiment. Temperature was significantly lower inside the empty test than outside, by 0.2°C. Almost 40% of the barnacle tests remained attached to the substratum for more than four months after the death of the individuals.

The effect of single versus successive warm summers on an intertidal community

“…Barnacles can provide an attachment surface and grazing refuge for algae (Farrell 1991, Geller 1991, as well as retain moisture (Vermeij 1978, Harley andO'Riley 2011) and provide shade (Cartwright and Williams 2014), thereby reducing the substratum temperature for closely associated species. Even empty barnacle tests serve as humid, thermally benign microhabitats for a diverse community (Reimer 1976, Barnes 2000, Chim et al 2016. While historically considered robust, the resilience of rocky intertidal communities is beginning to erode due to repeated thermal disturbance, among other stressors (Menge et al 2022).…”

Phototaxis in Two Shallow-Water Zeuxo Species (Crustacea: Tanaidacea)

“…9000 m depth). Tanaidaceans show various modes of life, occurring interstitially in sea bottoms and in deep-sea sunken woods, occupying the insides of empty gastropod shells and dead barnacle tests, or inhabiting the surfaces of marine vertebrates (McClain and Barry, 2014; Chim et al, 2016; Kakui, 2016; Kakui et al, 2017a; Tanabe et al, 2017). Various ecological studies have focused on the relationship between tanaidacean assemblages and their abundance on the one hand and environmental factors such as depth and substrate type (e.g., seagrasses vs. corals) on the other (e.g., Nakamura and Sano, 2005; Takada et al, 2012; Błażewicz-Paszkowycz and Siciński, 2014; Cházaro-Olvera et al, 2018).…”