Feeding habits of the peracarid crustaceans associated to the alga Fucus spiralis in Tarifa Island, Cádiz (Southern Spain)

The intertidal alga Fucus spiralis (Linnaeus, 1753) hosts an important mobile associated macrofauna, composed mainly of peracarid crustaceans such as the amphipod Hyale perieri (Lucas, 1849), the isopods Dynamene bidentata (Adams, 1800) and Ischyromene lacazei Racovitza, 1908 and the tanaid Tanais d...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Torrecilla Roca, Irene, Guerra García, José Manuel
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2012
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Sevilla (US)
Repositorio:idUS. Depósito de Investigación de la Universidad de Sevilla
OAI Identifier:oai:idus.us.es:11441/28212
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/11441/28212
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Peracarid crustaceans
Feeding
Gut contents
Seasonal fluctuations
Fucus spiralis
Crustáceos peracáridos
Alimentación
Contenidos estomacales
Variación estacional
Descripción
Sumario:The intertidal alga Fucus spiralis (Linnaeus, 1753) hosts an important mobile associated macrofauna, composed mainly of peracarid crustaceans such as the amphipod Hyale perieri (Lucas, 1849), the isopods Dynamene bidentata (Adams, 1800) and Ischyromene lacazei Racovitza, 1908 and the tanaid Tanais dulongii (Audouin, 1826). In the present study, we explored the feeding habits of these peracarid crustaceans associated to F. spiralis in Tarifa Island. The analysis of gut contents revealed that the community of F. spiralis is dominated by her- bivorous, feeding mainly on the own algae along all year round. As expected, taking into consideration that F. spiralis inhabit the upper levels of the intertidal and it is emerged most of the day, detritus collected from the water column was very scarce in the gut of examined species. The amphipod H. perieri , the dominant species, fed also on crustaceans besides the fucoid algae, especially during the warmer season. Dinoflagellates, diatoms and vorticellids were also present in lower proportions. Further experimental studies are needed to bet- ter understand the strong effect of associated herbivorous on the growth and dynamics of F. spiralis.