Lucas Terrana, Gilles Lepoint, Nicolas Lienard, Igor Eeckhaut
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Crinoids of the Order Comatulida are renowned for harboring a remarkable diversity of symbiotic organisms within echinoderms, including polychaetes, myzostomids, gastropods, crustaceans, brittle stars, or fish. Crinoids provide essential services to their symbionts, such as shelter, access to food resources, mating areas, nesting grounds, and nurseries. Symbionts within crinoids developed a variety of strategies, including foraging in the arm ambulacral grooves, preying upon other symbionts, living within galls, or accessing suspended food particles from the water column. In this work, we focused on the Great Reef of Toliara, where we collected specimens from seven crinoid species. Among the 84 crinoids examined, a total of 285 symbiotic organisms were retrieved. These symbionts were either moving freely on their host or found within cysts. Stable isotope analyses of carbon and nitrogen for both hosts and symbionts have shown that (a) all crinoids shared a common trophic niche; (b) a community-based approach indicated that crinoids initiated trophic networks primarily based on suspended particulate organic matter; (c) non-specific symbionts exhibited consistent dietary preferences regardless of their host; (d) myzostomids inhabiting cysts were found to feed on their host tissues; and (e) free-moving symbionts displayed divergent trophic niches linked to their predatory, kleptoparasitic, or filter-feeding behaviors. This research underscores the role of crinoids, particularly comatulid species, as key components of tropical ecosystems in the Western Indian Ocean, inhabited by a hidden biodiversity with complex trophic networks. Their intricate morphology accommodates a range of feeding strategies, supporting a diverse associated fauna.
期刊介绍:
Community Ecology, established by the merger of two ecological periodicals, Coenoses and Abstracta Botanica was launched in an effort to create a common global forum for community ecologists dealing with plant, animal and/or microbial communities from terrestrial, marine or freshwater systems. Main subject areas: (i) community-based ecological theory; (ii) modelling of ecological communities; (iii) community-based ecophysiology; (iv) temporal dynamics, including succession; (v) trophic interactions, including food webs and competition; (vi) spatial pattern analysis, including scaling issues; (vii) community patterns of species richness and diversity; (viii) sampling ecological communities; (ix) data analysis methods.