Uptake of dissolved organic matter by larval stage of the crown-of-thorns starfishAcanthaster planci

✍ Scribed by O. Hoegh-Guldberg

• Publisher: Springer-Verlag
• Year: 1994
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 971 KB
• Volume: 120
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0025-3162
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00381942

✦ Synopsis

The life-history of the crown-of thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci) includes a planktotrophic larva that is capable of feeding on particulate food. It has been proposed, however, that particulate food (e.g. microalgae) is scarce in tropical water columns relative to the nutritional requirements of the larvae of A. planci, and that periodic shortages of food play an important role in the biology of this species. It has also been proposed that non-particulate sources of nutrition (e.g. dissolved organic matter, DOM) may fuel part of the nutritional requirements of the larval development of A. planci as well. The present study addresses the ability of A. planci larvae to take up several DOM species and compares rates of DOM uptake to the energy requirements of the larvae. Substrates transported in this study have been previously reported to be transported by larval asteroids from temperate and antarctic waters. Transport rates (per larval A. planci) increased steadm 1 1 1 1 (J~a• 110.5 pmol larva-h-or 94.4 pmol gg-h-) to Communicated by G. F.