The effectiveness of Trapezia cymodoce in defending its host coral Pocillopora acuta against corallivorous Drupella
Population outbreaks of corallivorous Drupella gastropods have caused mass coral mortality, but there is insufficient information on their feeding behaviour to develop useful reef management strategies. This study examined the feeding rates of two Drupella species, D. rugosa (Born 1778) and D. marga...
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Published in | Marine biology Vol. 165; no. 4; pp. 1 - 8 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Berlin/Heidelberg
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
01.04.2018
Springer Springer Nature B.V |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Population outbreaks of corallivorous
Drupella
gastropods have caused mass coral mortality, but there is insufficient information on their feeding behaviour to develop useful reef management strategies. This study examined the feeding rates of two
Drupella
species,
D. rugosa
(Born 1778) and
D. margariticola
(Broderip 1833), and investigated whether the presence of the coral guard crab,
Trapezia cymodoce
(Herbst 1801
)
, could help to reduce corallivory on
Pocillopora acuta
(Lamarck 1816). Our mesocosm study showed that the feeding rate of
D. rugosa
(1.81 ± 0.95 cm
2
coral tissue/day) was significantly higher than that of
D. margariticola
(0.51 ± 0.75 cm
2
coral tissue/day). The presence of
T. cymodoce
reduced the feeding rate of
D. rugosa
by 22.9%; this was lower than that by other
Trapezia
congenerics.
Trapezia cymodoce
also did not display much aggressive behaviour towards
D. rugosa
. This study has highlighted that
D. rugosa
can cause considerable damage to corals and defence by
T. cymodoce
alone is unlikely to be effective against
Drupella
corallivory. Early detection of
Drupella
outbreaks and the subsequent development of mitigation measures remain of paramount importance in reducing the impact of corallivory on coral reefs. |
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ISSN: | 0025-3162 1432-1793 |
DOI: | 10.1007/s00227-018-3330-2 |