Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-dnltx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T10:52:02.027Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Predation of larval benthic invertebrates in St George’s Bay, Nova Scotia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 August 2012

Jessie Short ,
Anna Metaxas  and
Rémi M. Daigle
Jessie Short*
Affiliation:
Department of Oceanography, Dalhousie University, 1355 Oxford Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 4R2
Anna Metaxas
Affiliation:
Department of Oceanography, Dalhousie University, 1355 Oxford Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 4R2
Rémi M. Daigle
Affiliation:
Department of Oceanography, Dalhousie University, 1355 Oxford Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 4R2
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: J. Short, Department of Oceanography, Dalhousie University, 1355 Oxford Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 4J1 email: shortj02@student.uwa.edu.au
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Larval survival during planktonic dispersal is crucial to the connectivity among benthic populations. Although predation has been suggested as an important cause of larval mortality, this process has rarely been quantified in the field. We measured the abundance of various larval species in the water column in St George’s Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada, on 3 different occasions in summer (August 2008, July and August 2009), the period of high larval abundance in our region. We sampled four numerically dominant predators (scyphozoans: Cyanea capillata and Aurelia aurita; fishes: Gasterosteus aculeatus and Merluccius bilinearis) and lobster larvae near the water surface with a neuston net and other larval species in the water column (3 m depth) with a ring net. Larvae found in the gut contents of the predators included various species of gastropods, crustaceans and bivalves, and these were more abundant in the scyphozoans than the fishes. We attribute these differences to variation in predation method. For certain larval taxa, we found significant differences between the proportional abundance in the guts of C. capillata and in the water column, indicating prey selectivity. This study evaluates the potential impact of predation on larval survival and indicates that the presence of predators can cause changes in abundance and consequent taxonomic shifts in species dominance of larvae, influencing their successful subsequent recruitment to the benthos.

Keywords

larval abundancepredationselectivitymeroplanktonbenthic invertebrateslarval mortality
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 93 , Issue 3 , May 2013 , pp. 591 - 599
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Bailey, K.M. (1984) Comparison of laboratory rates of predation on five species of marine fish larvae by three planktonic invertebrates: effects of larval size on vulnerability. Marine Biology 79, 303–309.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bailey, K.M. and Batty, R.S. (1984) Laboratory study of predation by Aurelia aurita on larvae of cod, flounder, plaice and herring: development and vulnerability to capture. Marine Biology 83, 287–291.Google Scholar
Behrends, G. and Schneider, G. (1995) Impact of Aurelia aurita medusae (Cnidaria, Scyphozoa) on the standing stock and community composition of mesozooplankton in the Kiel Bight (western Baltic Sea). Marine Ecology Progress Series 127, 39–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carr, E.F. and Pitt, K.A. (2008) Behavioural reseponses of zooplankton to the presence of predatory jellyfish. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 354, 101–110.Google Scholar
Chesson, J. (1978) Measuring preference in selective predation. Ecology 59, 211–215.Google Scholar
Cohen, J.H. and Forward, R.B. (2003) Ctenophore kairomones and modified aminosugar disaccharides alter the shadow response in a larval crab. Journal of Plankton Research 25, 203–213.Google Scholar
Cowden, C., Young, C.M. and Chia, F.S. (1984) Differential predation on marine invertebrate larvae by two benthic predators. Marine Ecology Progress Series 14, 145–149.Google Scholar
Eckman, J.E. (1996) Closing the larval loop: linking larval ecology to the population dynamics of marine benthic invertebrates. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 200, 207–237.Google Scholar
Elliot, J.K. and Leggett, W.C. (1996) The effect of temperature on predation rates of a fish (Gasterosteus aculeatus) and a jellyfish (Aurelia aurita) on larval capelin (Mallotus villosus). Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 53, 1393–1402.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fancett, M.S. (1988) Diet and prey selectivity of scyphomedusae from Port Phillip Bay, Australia. Marine Biology 98, 503–509.Google Scholar
Forward, R.B. and Rittschof, D. (2000) Alteration of photoresponses involved in diel vertical migration of a crab larva by fish mucus and degradation products of mucopolysaccharides. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 238, 271–281.Google Scholar
Fraser, J.H. (1969) Experimental feeding of some medusae and Chaetognatha. Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada 26, 1743–1762.Google Scholar
Hansson, L.J. (2006) A method for in situ estimation of prey selectivity and predation rate in large plankton, exemplified with the jellyfish Aurelia aurita (L.) Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 328, 113–126.Google Scholar
Hargrave, B.T., Harding, G.C., Drinkwater, K.F., Lambert, T.C. and Harrison, W.G. (1985) Dynamics of the pelagic food web in St George’s Bay, southern Gulf of St Lawrence. Marine Ecology Progress Series 20, 221–240.Google Scholar
Hrbacek, J. (1989) The monitoring of the influence of fish management on the plankton association of reservoirs. In Talling, J.F., Brandl, Z. and Straskrabova, V. (eds) Proceedings of the International conference on reservoir limnology and water quality. 2. Chemical limnology, primary production, plankton, benthos and fish interactions. Stuttgart, Germany.Google Scholar
Huntley, M.E. and Hobson, L.A. (1978) Medusa predation and plankton dynamics in a temperate fjord, British Columbia. Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada 35, 257–261.Google Scholar
Johnson, K.B. and Brink, L.A. (1998) Predation on bivalve veligers by polychaete larvae. Ecology and Evolution 194, 297–303.Google Scholar
Johnson, K.B. and Shanks, A.L. (1997) The importance of prey densities and background plankton in studies of predation on invertebrate larvae. Marine Ecology Progress Series 158, 293–296.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, K.B. and Shanks, A.L. (2003) Low rates of predation on planktonic marine invertebrate larvae. Marine Ecology Progress Series 248, 125–139.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, G.P., Russ, G.R., Sale, P.F. and Steneck, R.S. (2008) Theme section on ‘Larval connectivity, resilience and the future of coral reefs'. Coral Reefs 28, 303–305.Google Scholar
Larson, R.J. (1987) Daily ration and predation by medusae and ctenophores in Saanich Inlet, B.C., Canada. Journal of Sea Research 21, 35–44.Google Scholar
Martinussen, M.B. and Bamstedt, U. (1999) Nutritional ecology of gelatinous planktonic predators. Digestion rate in relation to type and amount of prey. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 232, 61–84.Google Scholar
Matsakis, S. and Conover, R.J. (1991) Abundance and feeding of medusae and their potential impact as predators on other zooplankton in Bedford Basin (Nova Scotia, Canada) during spring. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 48, 1419–1430.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mills, E.L. and Forney, J.L. (1983) Impact on Daphnia pulex of predation by young yellow perch on Oneida Lake, New York. PhD thesis. University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany.Google Scholar
Morgan, S.G. (1992) Predation by planktonic and benthic invertebrates on larvae of estuarine crabs. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 163, 91–110.Google Scholar
Morgan, S.G. (1995) Life and death in the plankton: larval mortality and adaptation. In McEdward, L.R. (ed.) Ecology of marine invertebrate larvae. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, pp. 279–321.Google Scholar
Pechenik, J.A., Blanchard, M. and Rotjan, R. (2004) Susceptibility of larval Crepidula fornicate to predation by suspension feeding adults. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 306, 75–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pechenik, J.A. and Levine, S.H. (2007) Estimates of planktonic larval mortality using the marine gastropods Crepidula fornicate and C. plana . Marine Ecology Progress Series 344, 107–118.Google Scholar
Petrie, B. and Drinkwater, K. (1977) Physical oceanographic measurements in St George’s Bay, Nova Scotia, 1974. Report Series of the Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada.Google Scholar
Pennington, J.T., Rumrill, S.S. and Chia, F.S. (1986) Stage-specific predation upon embryos and larvae of the Pacific sand dollar, Dendraster excentricus, by 11 species of common zooplankton predators. Bulletin of Marine Science 39, 234–240.Google Scholar
Purcell, J.E. (1992) Effects of predation by the scyphomedusan Chrysaora quinquecirrha on zooplankton populations in Chesapeake Bay, USA. Marine Ecology Progress Series 87, 65–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Purcell, J.E. and Sturdevant, M.V. (2001) Prey selection and dietary overlap among zooplanktivorous jellyfish and juvenile fishes in Prince William Sound, Alaska. Marine Ecology Progress Series 210, 67–83.Google Scholar
Riisgard, H.U. (2007) Feeding behaviour of the hydromedusa Aequorea vitrina . Scientia Marina 71, 395–404.Google Scholar
Rumrill, S.S. (1990) Natural mortality of invertebrate larvae. Ophelia 32, 163–198.Google Scholar
Suchman, C.L. and Sullivan, B.K. (2000) Effects of prey size on vulnerability of copepods to predation by the scyphomedusae Aurelia aurita and Cyanea sp. Journal of Plankton Research 22, 2289–2306.Google Scholar
Sullivan, L.J. (2010) Gut evacuation of larval Mnemiopsis leidyi A. Agassiz (Ctenophora, Lobata). Journal of Plankton Research 32, 69–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thiel, R. (1996) The impact of fish predation on the zooplankton community in a southern Baltic bay. Limnologica 26, 123–137.Google Scholar
Thorson, G. (1950) Reproductive and larval ecology of marine bottom invertebrates. Biological Reviews 25, 1–45.Google Scholar
Vijverberg, J., Boersma, M., Densen, W.L.T., Van Hoogenboezem, W., Lammens, E.H.R.R. and Mooij, W.M. (1990) Seasonal variation in the interactions between piscivorous fish, planktivorous fish and zooplankton in a shallow eutrophic lake. Hydrobiology 200/201, 279–286.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vuorinen, I. (1986) Selective planktivory—effect on vertical migration and life-cycle parameters of zooplankton. Finnish Marine Research 253, 3–33.Google Scholar
Young, C.M. and Chia, F.S. (1987) Abundance and distribution of pelagic larvae as influenced by predation, behavior and hydrographic factors. In Giese, A.C., Pearse, J.S. and Pearse, V.B. (eds) Reproduction of marine invertebrates. Volume 9. Seeking unity in diversity. Palo Alto, CA: Blackwell/Boxwood Press, pp. 385–463.Google Scholar