Advisory Committee Chair
James B McClintock
Advisory Committee Members
Charles D Amsler
Megan E Gibbons
Document Type
Thesis
Date of Award
2007
Degree Name by School
Master of Science (MS) College of Arts and Sciences
Abstract
Sessile benthic marine organisms such as sponges are frequently colonized by a wide diversity of invertebrates. The present study focused on a quantitative analysis of the mesofauna associated with the common subtropical/tropical sponge Amphimedon viridis and explored several criteria for the basis for this mesofauna-sponge relationship. Specimens of Amphimedon viridis were hand-collected individually in bags from both Saint Joseph Bay, Florida Panhandle, and Sugar Loaf Key, Florida Keys between April - November 2006. Quantitative analyses of sponge surfaces and interiors revealed that the most common sponge-associated group was comprised of amphipods, followed by polychaetes and tenaid crustaceans. 35 percent of sponge-associated individuals were recovered from the interstices of the sponge. A total of 707 individuals per 1 cm3 of sponge material were found within 15 sponge samples of A. viridis. Shannon diversity and evenness indices indicated that A. viridis supports a diverse community of spongeassociated invertebrates including amphipods, polychaetes, tenaids, decapods, and isopods. These sponge-associated invertebrate groups may occupy sponges for a number of reasons. For example, physical or chemical protection from fish predation may impose a strong selective pressure that sustains these relationships. Moreover, nutritional iii needs, reproductive behaviors, and social interactions could also contribute to these sponge associations. In order to evaluate whether Amphimedon viridis provides a refuge from predation for sponge-associated mesofauna, laboratory feeding experiments were conducted to assess the palability of A. viridis to the generalistic sympatric pinfish Lagodon rhomboides. In feeding assays employing small pieces of sponge tissue and control squid tissue, pinfish displayed a strong significant rejection for sponge tissues when compared with control squid tissues. Alginate food pellets loaded with ecologically relevant concentrations of spicules isolated from A. viridis caused a weak but significant deterrent response in pinfish when compared to food pellets lacking spicules. However, alginate food pellets containing tissue-level concentrations of lipophilic and hydrophilic sponge extracts were highly deterrent to pinfish when compared to control food pellets. It is concluded that while both physical and chemical characteristics of A. viridis may contribute to its quality as a habitat resource, potent secondary metabolites, likely halotoxins and amphitoxins, play a particularly important role in providing a chemical refuge for associated mesofauana.
Recommended Citation
Huang, Jonathan, "Mesofauna Associated With The Subtropical/Tropical Marine Sponge Amphimedon Viridis : Are Faunal Associations Likely To Provide Refuge From Fish Predation Due To Physical Or Chemical Feeding Deterrent Properties Of This Sponge?" (2007). All ETDs from UAB. 3590.
https://digitalcommons.library.uab.edu/etd-collection/3590