Heterotrophy in recruits of the scleractinian coral Pocillopora damicornis

Heterotrophy is essential for meeting the metabolic requirements of scleractinian corals but the feeding mechanisms of coral juveniles are poorly understood. In this study, we observed that two-day-old Pocillopora damicornis recruits were able to immobilize and capture Artemia salina nauplii that co...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inMarine and freshwater behaviour and physiology Vol. 46; no. 5; pp. 313 - 320
Main Authors Toh, Tai Chong, Peh, Jia Wei Kassler, Chou, Loke Ming
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Taylor & Francis 01.09.2013
Subjects
Artemia salina
coral
feeding strategies
juvenile
scleractinian
video sequences
zooplankton
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Summary:Heterotrophy is essential for meeting the metabolic requirements of scleractinian corals but the feeding mechanisms of coral juveniles are poorly understood. In this study, we observed that two-day-old Pocillopora damicornis recruits were able to immobilize and capture Artemia salina nauplii that come into direct contact with their tentacles. The recruits were able to consume up to six nauplii h −1 and the shortest time required to fully ingest one nauplius was 1 min 25 s. This is the first study to describe the feeding mechanisms employed by coral recruits, and provided both observational and quantitative evidence to show that coral juveniles are able to commence heterotrophy at an early stage.
ISSN:1023-6244
1029-0362
DOI:10.1080/10236244.2013.832890