Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T09:22:15.744Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Polynoid polychaetes living in the gut of irregular sea urchins: a first case of inquilinism in the Southern Ocean

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

Stefano Schiaparelli ,
Maria Chiara Alvaro  and
Ruth Barnich
Stefano Schiaparelli*
Affiliation:
Dipartimento per lo Studio del Territorio e delle sue Risorse (Dip.Te.Ris.), Università di Genova, C.so Europa 26, Genova I-16132, Italy
Maria Chiara Alvaro
Affiliation:
Museo Nazionale dell'Antartide (MNA), Università di Genova, Viale Benedetto XV no. 5, Genova I-16132, Italy
Ruth Barnich
Affiliation:
Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg, Senckenberganlage 25, D-60325 Frankfurt, Germany
*
stefano.schiaparelli@unige.it
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Many different polychaete-echinoderm relationships have been described, from tropical to polar environments. Most of these associations have been generally defined as ‘commensal’, with polychaetes guests usually found on the oral surface of their hosts or, in a very few cases, even inside the host's body. Here we present an inquilinistic association involving two Antarctic species, the polychaete Gorekia crassicirris (Willey, 1902) (Polynoidae) and the irregular sea urchin Abatus nimrodi (Koheler, 1911) (Schizasteridae) found in the Ross Sea. This record is only the second worldwide for this kind of association, after that of the polychaete Benthoscolex cubanus which lives in the gut of the spatangoid Archeopneustes hystrix in Caribbean waters. Gorekia crassicirris seems to be a polyxenous species as it was also observed on another schizasterid, Brachysternaster chescheri Larrain, 1985 in the Weddell Sea. Considering that A. nimrodi is absent from that area and that the two sea urchin species have a disjoint distribution, it is possible that a ‘host-switch’ phenomenon occurred at some stage. We review the available literature to compare the Antarctic pairing with the other known examples of similar associations.

Keywords

AntarcticaEchinoideaPolychaetaRoss Sea
Type
Biological Sciences
Information
Antarctic Science , Volume 23 , Issue 2 , April 2011 , pp. 144 - 151
Copyright
Copyright © Antarctic Science Ltd 2011

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

Bergström, E. 1916. Die Polynoiden der schwedischen Südpolarexpedition 1901–1903. Zoologiska bidrag från Uppsala, 4, 269–304.Google Scholar
Britayev, T.A. Lyskin, S.A. 2002. Feeding of the symbiotic polychaete Gastrolepidia clavigera (Polynoidae) and its interactions with its hosts. Doklady Biological Sciences, 385, 352–356.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Britayev, T.A. Zamishliak, E.A. 1996. Association of the commensal scaleworm Gastrolepidia clavigera (Polychaeta: Polynoidae) with holothurians near the coast of South Vietnam. Ophelia, 45, 175–190.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bruno, J.F., Stachowicz, J.J. Bertness, M.D. 2003. Inclusion of facilitation into ecological theory. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 18, 119–125.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chenuil, A., Gault, A. Féral, J.P. 2004. Paternity analysis in the Antarctic brooding sea urchin Abatus nimrodi: a pilot study. Polar Biology, 27, 177–182.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chiantore, M., Guidetti, M., Cavallero, M., De Domenico, F., Albertelli, G. Cattaneo-Vietti, R. 2006. Sea urchins, sea stars and brittle stars from Terra Nova Bay (Ross Sea, Antarctica). Polar Biology, 29, 467–475.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dales, R.P. 1957. Interrelations of organisms: A. Commensalism. Memoirs of the Geological Society of America, 67, 391–412.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davenport, D. 1953. Studies in the physiology of commensalism. III. The polynoid genera Acholoe, Gattyana and Lepidasthenia. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 32, 161–173.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davenport, D. 1966. Echinoderms and the control of behaviour in associations. In Boolootian, R.A., ed. Physiology of Echinodermata. New York: Interscience, 145–156.Google Scholar
David, B., Chone, T., De Ridder, C. Festau, A. 2003. Antarctic echinoids: an interactive database. Version 2.0. Biogéosciences, University of Burgundy, CD-ROM.Google Scholar
De Bary, A.H. 1878. Über Symbiose. Tagblatt der 51. Versammlung Deutscher Naturforscher und Aerzte in Cassel. Kassel: Baier & Lewalter, 121–126.Google Scholar
Emson, R.H., Young, C.M. Paterson, G.L.J. 1993. A fire worm with a sheltered life: studies of Benthoscolex cubanus Hartman (Amphinomidae), an internal associate of the bathyal sea urchin Archeopneustes hystrix (A. Agassiz, 1880). Journal of Natural History, 27, 1013–1028.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Freeman, S.M., Richardson, C.A. Seed, R. 1998. The distribution and occurrence of Acholoe squamosa (Polychaeta: Polynoidae) a commensal with the burrowing starfish Astropecten irregularis (Echinodermata: Asteroidea). Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 47, 107–118.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ganapati, P.N. Radhakrishna, Y. 1962. Inquilinism between a new hesionid and a holothurian Molpadia sp. Current Science, 31, 382–383.Google Scholar
Hartman, O. 1964. Polychaeta Errantia of Antarctica. Antarctic Research Series, 3, 1–131.Google Scholar
Hartmann-Schröder, G. Rosenfeldt, P. 1988. Die Polychaeten der “Polarstern”-Reise ANT III/2 in die Antarktis 1984. Teil 1: Euphrosinidae bis Chaetopteridae. Mitteilungen des hamburgischen zoologischen Museums und Instituts, 85, 25–72.Google Scholar
Jangoux, M. 1987a. Diseases of Echinodermata. II. Agents metazoans (Mesozoa to Bryozoa). Diseases of Aquatic Organisms, 2, 205–234.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jangoux, M. 1987b. Diseases of Echinodermata. III. Agents metazoans (Annelida to Pisces). Diseases of Aquatic Organisms, 3, 59–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Knox, G.A. Cameron, D.B. 1998. The marine fauna of the Ross Sea: Polychaeta. National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, Biodiversity Memoir, 108, 1–125.Google Scholar
Kroh, A. Hansson, H. 2010. Spatangoida. In Kroh, A. & Mooi, R., eds. World Echinoidea Database. Accessed through: De Broyer, C., Clarke, A., Koubbi, P.; Pakhomov, E., Scott, F., van Den Berghe, E. & Danis, B., eds. The SCAR-MarBIN Register of Antarctic Marine Species (RAMS) at http://www.scarmarbin.be/rams.php?p=taxdetails&id=123106 accessed on 7 May 2010.Google Scholar
Martin, D. Britayev, T.A. 1998. Symbiotic polychaetes: review of known species. Oceanography and Marine Biology Annual Review, 36, 217–340.Google Scholar
Monticelli, F.S. 1892. Notizia preliminare intorno ad alcuni inquilini degli Holothuroidea del Golfo di Napoli. Monitore Zoologico Italiano, 3, 248–256.Google Scholar
Pettibone, M.H. 1993. Scaled polychaetes (Polynoidae) associated with ophiuroids and other invertebrates and review of species referred to Malmgrenia Mclntosh and replaced by Malmgreniella Hartman, with descriptions of new taxa. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology, 538, 92 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schiaparelli, S., Cattaneo-Vietti, R. Chiantore, M. 2000. Adaptive morphology of Capulus subcompressus Pelseneer, 1903 (Gastropoda: Capulidae) from Terra Nova Bay, Ross Sea (Antarctica). Polar Biology, 23, 11–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schiaparelli, S., Alvaro, M.C., Bohn, J. Albertelli, G. 2010. ‘Hitchhiker’ polynoid polychaetes in cold deep waters and their potential influence on benthic soft bottom food webs. Antarctic Science, 22, 399–407.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schiaparelli, S., Ghirardo, C., Bohn, J., Chiantore, M., Albertelli, G. Cattaneo-Vietti, R. 2007. Antarctic associations: the parasitic relationship between the gastropod Bathycrinicola tumidula (Thiele, 1912) (Ptenoglossa: Eulimidae) and the comatulid Notocrinus virilis Mortensen, 1917 (Crinoidea: Notocrinidae) in the Ross Sea. Polar Biology, 30, 1545–1555.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stiller, M. 1996. Verbreitung und Lebensweise der Aphroditiden und Polynoiden (Polychaeta) im östlichen Weddellmeer und im Lazarevmeer (Antarktis). Berichte zur Polarforschung, 185, 1–200.Google Scholar
Uschakov, P.V. 1962. Polychaetous annelids of the family Phyllodocidae and Aphroditidae from the Antarctic and Subantarctic (Material collected by the Soviet Antarctic Expedition, 1955–1958). Studies of Marine Fauna. Biological Reports of the Soviet Antarctic Expedition (1955–1958), 1, 131–188 (translated 1966 by the Israel Program for Scientific Translations).Google Scholar
Willey, A. 1902. Report on the collections of natural history made in Antarctic regions during the voyage of the “Southern Cross”. Polychaeta. Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History) London, 12, 262–283.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: PDF

Shiaparelli Supplementary Material

Shiaparelli Supplementary Tables

Download Shiaparelli Supplementary Material(PDF)
PDF 65.7 KB

Shiaparelli Supplementary Material

Shiaparelli Supplementary Video

Download Shiaparelli Supplementary Material(Video)
Video 9.1 MB