TY - JOUR
T1 - Host-finding behaviour and navigation capabilities of symbiotic zooxanthellae
AU - Pasternak, Zohar
AU - Blasius, Bernd
AU - Abelson, Avigdor
AU - Achituv, Yair
PY - 2006/5
Y1 - 2006/5
N2 - Past studies have shown that the initiation of symbiosis between the Red-Sea soft coral Heteroxenia fuscescens and its symbiotic dinoflagellates occurs due to the chemical attraction of the motile algal cells to substances emanating from the coral polyps. However, the resulting swimming patterns of zooxanthellae have not been previously studied. This work examined algal swimming behaviour, host location and navigation capabilities under four conditions: (1) still water, (2) in still water with waterborne host attractants, (3) in flowing water, and (4) in flow with host attractants. Algae were capable of actively and effectively locating their host in still water as well as in flow. When in water containing host attractants, swimming became slower, motion patterns straighter and the direction of motion was mainly towards the host - even if this meant advancing upstream against flow velocities of up to 0.5 mm s-1. Coral-algae encounter probability decreased the further downstream of the host algae were located, probably due to diffusion of the chemical signal. The results show how the chemoreceptive zooxanthellae modify their swimming pattern, direction, velocity, circuity and turning rate to accommodate efficient navigation in changing environmental conditions.
AB - Past studies have shown that the initiation of symbiosis between the Red-Sea soft coral Heteroxenia fuscescens and its symbiotic dinoflagellates occurs due to the chemical attraction of the motile algal cells to substances emanating from the coral polyps. However, the resulting swimming patterns of zooxanthellae have not been previously studied. This work examined algal swimming behaviour, host location and navigation capabilities under four conditions: (1) still water, (2) in still water with waterborne host attractants, (3) in flowing water, and (4) in flow with host attractants. Algae were capable of actively and effectively locating their host in still water as well as in flow. When in water containing host attractants, swimming became slower, motion patterns straighter and the direction of motion was mainly towards the host - even if this meant advancing upstream against flow velocities of up to 0.5 mm s-1. Coral-algae encounter probability decreased the further downstream of the host algae were located, probably due to diffusion of the chemical signal. The results show how the chemoreceptive zooxanthellae modify their swimming pattern, direction, velocity, circuity and turning rate to accommodate efficient navigation in changing environmental conditions.
KW - Algal acquisition
KW - Chemotaxis
KW - Coral reef
KW - Flow
KW - Symbiosis
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33646510559&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s00338-005-0085-2
DO - 10.1007/s00338-005-0085-2
M3 - ???researchoutput.researchoutputtypes.contributiontojournal.article???
AN - SCOPUS:33646510559
SN - 0722-4028
VL - 25
SP - 201
EP - 207
JO - Coral Reefs
JF - Coral Reefs
IS - 2
ER -