TY - JOUR
T1 - Coral host specificity in settlement and metamorphosis of the date mussel Lithophaga lessepsiana (Vaillant, 1865)
AU - Mokady, Ofer
AU - Bonar, Dale B.
AU - Arazi, Gila
AU - Loya, Y.
N1 - Funding Information:
supplying the algae for feeding the larvae. This research was supported by the USA-Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF), Jerusalem, Israel.
PY - 1991/4/15
Y1 - 1991/4/15
N2 - The boring bivalve Lithophaga lessepsiana is found only in the coral Stylophora pistillata Esper, 1797, in the Gulf of Eilat, Red Sea. In laboratory experiments, L. lessepsiana larvae were found to choose S. pistillata as a substratum for settlement significantly more than all other coral substrata offered (p < 0.001). Furthermore, larvae were induced to metamorphose by tissue extracts of their known host significantly more than by extracts of other corals (p < 0.001). Larvae maintained in laboratory cultures retained the ability to metamorphose for 4 mth, with only very low incidence of spontaneous metamorphosis Our experimental results suggest that larval choice of substratum, and specific triggering of metamorphosis by the coral host, act together to form the species specific association between L. lessepsiana and S. pistillata.
AB - The boring bivalve Lithophaga lessepsiana is found only in the coral Stylophora pistillata Esper, 1797, in the Gulf of Eilat, Red Sea. In laboratory experiments, L. lessepsiana larvae were found to choose S. pistillata as a substratum for settlement significantly more than all other coral substrata offered (p < 0.001). Furthermore, larvae were induced to metamorphose by tissue extracts of their known host significantly more than by extracts of other corals (p < 0.001). Larvae maintained in laboratory cultures retained the ability to metamorphose for 4 mth, with only very low incidence of spontaneous metamorphosis Our experimental results suggest that larval choice of substratum, and specific triggering of metamorphosis by the coral host, act together to form the species specific association between L. lessepsiana and S. pistillata.
KW - Coral reef
KW - Induction
KW - Lithophaga lessepsiana
KW - Metamorphosis
KW - Settlement
KW - Stylophora pistillata
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0025956959&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/0022-0981(91)90026-S
DO - 10.1016/0022-0981(91)90026-S
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AN - SCOPUS:0025956959
SN - 0022-0981
VL - 146
SP - 205
EP - 216
JO - Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology
JF - Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology
IS - 2
ER -