Biology and epibiont community of the red decorator crab, Schizophrys aspera, on the southern Great Barrier Reef

IF 2.7 2区生物学 Q1 MARINE & FRESHWATER BIOLOGY

Coral Reefs Pub Date : 2024-03-05 DOI:10.1007/s00338-024-02479-8

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Organismal symbioses are fundamental to biodiversity, evolution, and ecosystem functioning. On coral reefs, many decapod species have formed distinct epibiotic symbioses through decoration tendencies that enhance diet, camouflage, and defence. The red decorator crab, Schizophrys aspera (Majidae: Decapoda), has a broad Indo-Pacific distribution and is a successful predator of juvenile crown-of-thorns seastars (CoTS; Acanthaster sp.). However, little is known of the biology and decorating symbioses of S. aspera on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), where CoTS pose ongoing management challenges. We characterised S. aspera and its epibiont community collected in coral rubble patches on the southern GBR. S. aspera predominantly used sponges (94 ± 1%; mean ± SE) in its decoration, with greater proportions of the carapace covered for juveniles (58 ± 5%) and females (46 ± 4%) compared to males (24 ± 4%). In short-term (8-d) experiments, S. aspera substantially reduced sponge (31%) and algal (47%) cover on rubble pieces, demonstrating its potential to alter sessile communities. The close association of S. aspera with sponges and algae likely reflects its diet and enhances camouflage and chemical defence in its coral rubble niche on the GBR. As sessile taxa are often noxious, we postulate that these symbioses may confer resilience of S. aspera to plancitoxins in its consumption of CoTS. Evaluating how epibiont diversity and biochemistry shape the habitat associations, distribution, and role of S. aspera as predator and prey may be important to understanding its ability to mediate CoTS densities on the GBR and elsewhere.

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大堡礁南部红色装饰蟹（Schizophrys aspera）的生物学和附生虫群落

摘要生物共生是生物多样性、进化和生态系统功能的基础。在珊瑚礁上，许多十足目物种通过装饰倾向形成了独特的表生共生关系，从而增强了食性、伪装性和防御性。红色装饰蟹 Schizophrys aspera（Majidae：十足目）在印度洋-太平洋地区分布广泛，是棘冠海星（CoTS；Acanthaster sp.）幼体的成功捕食者。然而，人们对大堡礁（GBR）上的S. aspera的生物学和装饰共生知之甚少，而大堡礁上的CoTS给管理带来了持续的挑战。我们研究了在大堡礁南部珊瑚碎石斑块中采集到的栉水母及其附生生物群落的特征。栉水母主要使用海绵（94 ± 1%；平均值 ± SE）进行装饰，与雄性（24 ± 4%）相比，幼体（58 ± 5%）和雌性（46 ± 4%）的甲壳覆盖比例更高。在短期（8 天）实验中，白苏藻大大降低了碎石块上的海绵（31%）和藻类（47%）覆盖率，显示了其改变无柄群落的潜力。海扇藻与海绵和藻类的密切联系可能反映了它的食性，并增强了其在 GBR 珊瑚瓦砾生态位中的伪装和化学防御能力。由于无柄类群通常是有毒的，我们推测这些共生关系可能会使S. Aspera在食用CoTS时对板蓝根毒素产生抗性。评估附生体的多样性和生物化学如何影响S. aspera作为捕食者和猎物的栖息地关联、分布和作用，对于了解其在GBR和其他地方调节CoTS密度的能力可能非常重要。

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来源期刊

Coral Reefs 生物-海洋与淡水生物学

CiteScore

6.80

自引率

11.40%

发文量

111

审稿时长

4-8 weeks

期刊介绍： Coral Reefs, the Journal of the International Coral Reef Society, presents multidisciplinary literature across the broad fields of reef studies, publishing analytical and theoretical papers on both modern and ancient reefs. These encourage the search for theories about reef structure and dynamics, and the use of experimentation, modeling, quantification and the applied sciences. Coverage includes such subject areas as population dynamics; community ecology of reef organisms; energy and nutrient flows; biogeochemical cycles; physiology of calcification; reef responses to natural and anthropogenic influences; stress markers in reef organisms; behavioural ecology; sedimentology; diagenesis; reef structure and morphology; evolutionary ecology of the reef biota; palaeoceanography of coral reefs and coral islands; reef management and its underlying disciplines; molecular biology and genetics of coral; aetiology of disease in reef-related organisms; reef responses to global change, and more.