Oxygen consumption and ammonium excretion of mega-sized benthic invertebrates in a tropical seagrass bed

• Published in: Journal of experimental marine biology and ecology Vol. 134; no. 2; pp. 101 - 115
• Main Authors: Mukai, H., Koike, I., Nishihira, M., Nojima, S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 1989; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Biological and medical sciences; Excretion; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Megafauna; O/N ratio; Respiration; Tropical seagrass bed; Excretion; O/N ratio; Tropical seagrass bed; Megafauna; Respiration; Energy flow; Papua New Guinea; Echinodermata; Tropical zone; Oxygen consumption; Gastropoda; Metabolism; Oceania; Macrura; Crustacea; Holothuroidea; Bivalvia; Arthropoda; Melanesia; Echinoidea; Decapoda; Seagrass bed; Invertebrata; Mollusca
• ISSN: 0022-0981; 1879-1697
• DOI: 10.1016/0022-0981(90)90103-J

In a Papua New Guinean seagrass bed community, oxygen consumption rates and ammonium excretion rates of various size classes of six dominant species of megafauna, Tripneustes gratilla (Linnaeus), Axius acanthus A. Milne-Edwards, Conomurex luchuanus (Linnaeus), Malleus malleus (Linnaeus), Holothuria atra Jaeger and H. scabra Jaeger, were measured using a differential gas-volumeter method and an oxygen bottle method. The metabolism/weight exponent “b” (R = aWb) for the six species ranged from 0.11 to 0.64 and was thus lower than the general value of “b” in poikilotherms. O/N ratios for the six species ranged from 19.3 to 44.2. The O/N values were discussed in relation to the various species' feeding habits. The abundance and size-frequency distributions of six species were estimated. Oxygen consumption and ammonium excretion rates could thus be calculated for the populations of the six species from metabolism/ weight relationships and the abundance and size-frequency distribution data. The total energy demand for respiration of the six megafaunal species in the seagrass bed of 6.56 ha was 12285 kcal·day−1. The importance of the megafauna to overall energy budgets for tropical seagrass bed communities was emphasized.