Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-mkpzs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-21T03:57:41.300Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Effect of cell concentration on colony growth and feeding in the bryozoan Celleporella hyalina

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

E. Hunter
Affiliation:
School of Biological Sciences, University of Wales, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2UW.
R. N. Hughes
Affiliation:
School of Biological Sciences, University of Wales, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2UW.

Extract

The effects of cell concentration on colony growth and feeding behaviour were investigated in the polymorphic marine bryozoan Celleporella hyalina (Bryozoa: Cheilostomata) under controlled, laboratory conditions. We compared the relative zooidal composition of colonies cultured on Rhodomonas baltica (Karsten) for seven weeks at 18°C. We observed the pharynx of active lophophores on sudden exposure to high cell concentrations, and recorded the length of feeding episodes and ingestion rates.

Colonies grew, reproduced and produced viable larvae at all levels of food supply, but performed optimally at 50–100 cells µl-1. Cell concentration influenced somatic parameters more than sexual, the latter being more closely associated with genotype. Relative somatic investment was greatest at 10 cells µl-1 and least at 50 cells µl-1. The frequency of ovicells containing larvae remained at about 74% irrespective of food supply. Basal male investment was greatest at 10 cell µl-1, frontal male investment at 50 cells µl-1, and female investment at 100 cells µl-1.

Cell ingestion rates of previously starved zooids increased as a function of cell concentration, with an inverse relationship between length of feeding episode and concentration. Food particles were drawn from below the lophophore by lateral cilia, ciliary reversal brought them over the mouth, and ingestion then resulted from a pharyngeal current. These results suggest that, on exposure to high cell concentrations, bryozoans may exhibit specific behaviour.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1993

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

Atkins, D., 1932. The ciliary feeding mechanism of the entoproct polyzoa, and a comparison with that of the ectoproct polyzoa. Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science, 75, 393423.Google Scholar
Best, M. A. & Thorpe, J. P., 1983. Effects of particle concentration on clearance rate and feeding current velocity in the marine bryozoan Flustrellidra hispida. Marine Biology, 77, 8592.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Best, M. A. & Thorpe, J. P., 1986. Effects of food particle concentration on feeding current velocity in six species of marine Bryozoa. Marine Biology, 93, 255262.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Borg, F., 1926. Studies on recent cyclostomatous Bryozoa. Zoologiska Bidrag Från Uppsala, 10, 181507.Google Scholar
Cancino, J. M. & Hughes, R. N., 1987. The effect of water flow on growth and reproduction of Celleporella hyalina (L.) (Bryozoa: Cheilostomata). Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 112, 109130.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cassell, E. A., 1965. Rapid graphical method for estimating the precision of direct microscopic counting data. Applied Microbiology, 13, 293296.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fogg, G. E. & Thake, B., 1987. Algal cultures and phytoplankton ecology. Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press.Google Scholar
Hughes, D. J., 1989. Variation in reproductive strategy among clones of the bryozoan Celleporella hyalina. Ecological Monographs, 59, 387403.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hughes, D. J., 1992. Genotype-environment interactions and relative clonal fitness in a marine bryozoan. Journal of Animal Ecology, 61, 291306.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hunter, E., 1991. Variation of growth and reproduction in a marine bryozoan. PhD thesis, University of Wales.Google Scholar
Hunter, E. & Hughes, R. N., 1993a. Self fertilization in Celleporella hyalina. Marine Biology, in press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hunter, E. & Hughes, R. N., 1993b. The effect of diet on life-history parameters of the marine bryozoan Celleporella hyalina. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, in press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McKinney, F. K., 1990. Feeding and associated colonial morphology in marine bryozoans. Reviews in Aquatic Sciences, 2, 255280.Google Scholar
Okamura, B., 1987. Particle size and flow velocity induce an inferred switch in bryozoan suspension-feeding behavior. Biological Bulletin. Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, 173, 222229.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sokal, R. R. & Rohlf, F. J., 1981. Biometry. 2nd ed. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman.Google Scholar
Stearns, S., 1989. The evolutionary significance of phenotypic plasticity. BioScience, 39, 436446.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Strathmann, R., 1973. Function of lateral cilia in suspension feeding of lophophorates (Brachiopoda, Phoronida, Ectoprocta). Marine Biology, 23, 129136.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Strathmann, R. R., 1982. Cinefilms of particle capture by an induced local change of beat of lateral cilia of a bryozoan. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 62, 225236.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Winston, J. E., 1978. Polypide morphology and feeding behaviour in marine ectoprocts. Bulletin of Marine Science, 28, 131.Google Scholar