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Feeding repellence in Antarctic bryozoans

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Abstract

The Antarctic sea star Odontaster validus and the amphipod Cheirimedon femoratus are important predators in benthic communities. Some bryozoans are part of the diet of the asteroid and represent both potential host biosubstrata and prey for this omnivorous lysianassid amphipod. In response to such ecological pressure, bryozoans are expected to develop strategies to deter potential predators, ranging from physical to chemical mechanisms. However, the chemical ecology of Antarctic bryozoans has been scarcely studied. In this study we evaluated the presence of defenses against predation in selected species of Antarctic bryozoans. The sympatric omnivorous consumers O. validus and C. femoratus were selected to perform feeding assays with 16 ether extracts (EE) and 16 butanol extracts (BE) obtained from 16 samples that belonged to 13 different bryozoan species. Most species (9) were active (12 EE and 1 BE) in sea star bioassays. Only 1 BE displayed repellence, indicating that repellents against the sea star are mainly lipophilic. Repellence toward C. femoratus was found in all species in different extracts (10 EE and 12 BE), suggesting that defenses against the amphipod might be both lipophilic and hydrophilic. Interspecific and intraspecific variability of bioactivity was occasionally detected, suggesting possible environmental inductive responses, symbiotic associations, and/or genetic variability. Multivariate analysis revealed similarities among species in relation to bioactivities of EE and/or BE. These findings support the hypothesis that, while in some cases alternative chemical or physical mechanisms may also provide protection, repellent compounds play an important role in Antarctic bryozoans as defenses against predators.

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Acknowledgments

We are thankful to J. Vázquez, C. Angulo, F.J. Cristobo, and S. Taboada for their laboratory support. We are also very grateful for the helpful suggestions of the reviewers. In this work, we used extracts from previous projects (ECOQUIM and ACTIQUIM), and for this reason, we want to thank W. Arntz, the R/V Polarstern, and the BIO Hespérides crew. We would like to thank as well the Unidad de Tecnología Marina (UTM-CSIC) and the crew of Las Palmas vessel for all their logistic support. Special thanks are also given to the “Gabriel de Castilla BAE” crew for their help and to the participants of the 4th Australarwood Meeting in Townsville for their useful comments. This research was developed in the framework of the ACTIQUIM-I and II projects (CGL2007-65453/ANT, CTM2010-17415/ANT) with the financial support of the Spanish Government.

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  1. Department of Animal Biology (Invertebrates) and Biodiversity Research Institute (IrBIO), Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, Av. Diagonal 643, 08028, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

    Blanca Figuerola, Laura Núñez-Pons, Juan Moles & Conxita Avila

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  1. Blanca Figuerola
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Figuerola, B., Núñez-Pons, L., Moles, J. et al. Feeding repellence in Antarctic bryozoans. Naturwissenschaften 100, 1069–1081 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-013-1112-8

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