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Patterns of Dispersion, Movement and Feeding of the Sea Urchin Lytechinus Variegatus, and the Potential Implications for Grazing Impact on Live Seagrass

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Patterns of Dispersion, Movement and Feeding of the Sea Urchin Lytechinus Variegatus, and the Potential Implications for Grazing Impact on Live Seagrass Gulf and Caribbean Research Volume 32 Issue 1 2021 Patterns of Dispersion, Movement and Feeding of the Sea Urchin Lytechinus variegatus, and the Potential Implications for Grazing Impact on Live Seagrass Adrianna Parson Augusta University, [email protected] Joseph M. Dirnberger Kennesaw State University, [email protected] Troy Mutchler Kennesaw State University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://aquila.usm.edu/gcr Part of the Marine Biology Commons, and the Population Biology Commons Recommended Citation Parson, A., J. M. Dirnberger and T. Mutchler. 2021. Patterns of Dispersion, Movement and Feeding of the Sea Urchin Lytechinus variegatus, and the Potential Implications for Grazing Impact on Live Seagrass. Gulf and Caribbean Research 32 (1): 8-18. Retrieved from https://aquila.usm.edu/gcr/vol32/iss1/3 DOI: https://doi.org/10.18785/gcr.3201.03 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by The Aquila Digital Community. It has been accepted for inclusion in Gulf and Caribbean Research by an authorized editor of The Aquila Digital Community. For more information, please contact [email protected]. VOLUME 25 VOLUME GULF AND CARIBBEAN Volume 25 RESEARCH March 2013 TABLE OF CONTENTS GULF AND CARIBBEAN SAND BOTTOM MICROALGAL PRODUCTION AND BENTHIC NUTRIENT FLUXES ON THE NORTHEASTERN GULF OF MEXICO NEARSHORE SHELF RESEARCH Jeffrey G. Allison, M. E. Wagner, M. McAllister, A. K. J. Ren, and R. A. Snyder....................................................................................1—8 WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT SPECIES RICHNESS AND DISTRIBUTION ON THE OUTER—SHELF SOUTH TEXAS BANKS? Harriet L. Nash, Sharon J. Furiness, and John W. Tunnell, Jr. ......................................................................................................... 9—18 Volume 32 ASSESSMENT OF SEAGRASS FLORAL COMMUNITY STRUCTURE FROM TWO CARIBBEAN MARINE PROTECTED 2021 AREAS ISSN: 2572-1410 Paul A. X. Bologna and Anthony J. Suleski ............................................................................................................................................. 19—27 SPATIAL AND SIZE DISTRIBUTION OF RED DRUM CAUGHT AND RELEASED IN TAMPA BAY, FLORIDA, AND FAC- TORS ASSOCIATED WITH POST—RELEASE HOOKING MORTALITY Kerry E. Flaherty, Brent L. Winner, Julie L. Vecchio, and Theodore S. Switzer....................................................................................29—41 CHARACTERIZATION OF ICHTHYOPLANKTON IN THE NORTHEASTERN GULF OF MEXICO FROM SEAMAP PLANK- TON SURVEYS, 1982—1999 Joanne Lyczkowski—Shultz, David S. Hanisko, Kenneth J. Sulak, Ma gorzata Konieczna, and Pamela J. Bond ..................................43—98 ł GULF AND CARIBBEAN RESEARC Short Communications DEPURATION OF MACONDA (MC—252) OIL FOUND IN HETEROTROPHIC SCLERACTINIAN CORALS (TUBASTREA COCCINEA AND TUBASTREA MICRANTHUS) ON OFFSHORE OIL/GAS PLATFORMS IN THE GULF Steve R. Kolian, Scott Porter, Paul W. Sammarco, and Edwin W. Cake, Jr........................................................................................99—103 EFFECTS OF CLOSURE OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER GULF OUTLET ON SALTWATER INTRUSION AND BOTTOM WATER HYPOXIA IN LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN Michael A. Poirrier .............................................................................................................................................................................105—109 DISTRIBUTION AND LENGTH FREQUENCY OF INVASIVE LIONFISH (PTEROIS SP.) IN THE NORTHERN GULF OF MEXICO OF MEXICO Alexander Q. Fogg, Eric R. Hoffmayer, William B. Driggers III, Matthew D. Campbell, Gilmore J. Pellegrin, and William Stein ............................................................................................................................................................................................................111—115 NOTES ON THE BIOLOGY OF INVASIVE LIONFISH (PTEROIS SP.) FROM THE NORTHCENTRAL GULF OF MEXICO William Stein III, Nancy J. Brown—Peterson, James S. Franks, and Martin T. O’Connell ...............................................................117—120 H RECORD BODY SIZE FOR THE RED LIONFISH, PTEROIS VOLITANS (SCORPAENIFORMES), IN THE SOUTHERN GULF OF MEXICO Alfonso Aguilar—Perera, Leidy Perera—Chan, and Luis Quijano—Puerto ...........................................................................................121—123 EFFECTS OF BLACK MANGROVE (AVICENNIA GERMINANS) EXPANSION ON SALTMARSH (SPARTINA ALTERNI- FLORA) BENTHIC COMMUNITIES OF THE SOUTH TEXAS COAST Jessica Lunt, Kimberly McGlaun, and Elizabeth M. Robinson..........................................................................................................125—129 TIME—ACTIVITY BUDGETS OF STOPLIGHT PARROTFISH (SCARIDAE: SPARISOMA VIRIDE) IN BELIZE: CLEANING INVITATION AND DIURNAL PATTERNS Wesley A. Dent and Gary R. Gaston .................................................................................................................................................131—135 FIRST RECORD OF A NURSE SHARK, GINGLYMOSTOMA CIRRATUM, WITHIN THE MISSISSIPPI SOUND Jill M. Hendon, Eric R. Hoffmayer, and William B. Driggers III......................................................................................................137—139 REVIEWERS ........................................................................................................................................................................................................141 INSTRUCTION TO AUTHORS ...............................................................................................................................................................142-143 Published by © 2013 The University of Southern Mississippi, Gulf Coast Published by Research Laboratory. MARCH 2013 Printed in the United States of America ISSN: 1528—0470 703 East Beach Drive All rights reserved. No part of this publication covered by the Ocean Springs, Mississippi 39564 copyright hereon may be reproduced or copied in any form or 228.872.4200 • FAX: 228.872.4204 by any means without written permission from the publisher. Ocean Springs, Mississippi www.usm.edu/gcrl Gulf and Caribbean Research Vol 32, 8-18, 2021 Manuscript received, May 20, 2020; accepted, January 14, 2021 DOI: 10.18785/gcr.3201.03 PATTERNS OF DISPERSION, MOVEMENT AND FEEDING OF THE SEA URCHIN LYTECHINUS, AND THE POTENTIAL IMPLICATIONS FOR GRAZ- ING IMPACT ON LIVE SEAGRASS Adrianna Parson1, Joseph M. Dirnberger2, and Troy Mutchler2 1 College of Allied Health Sciences, Augusta University,1120 15th St, Augusta, GA 30912 USA; 2 Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA 30144 USA; Corresponding author, email: [email protected] ABSTRACT: The sea urchin Lytechinus variegatus is a known grazer of both living and dead tissue of turtlegrass, Thalassia testudinum, occasionally denuding large areas of seagrass. Field studies have attempted to assess effects of herbivory on seagrass by enclosing urchins at various densities. However, it is unclear how unrestricted urchins affect seagrass at lower densities more typically observed in the field. This study describes movement, feeding, and distribution of L. variegatus within beds of T. testudinum in St. Joseph Bay, Florida (USA) to quantify this urchin’s impact as a seagrass grazer. Urchins were absent from portions of seagrass beds closest to shore, present at low densities midway across the bed, and at highest densities (up to ~5 individuals/m2) at the offshore edge of the bed. Urchins tended not to aggregate, moved twice as rapidly where seagrass cover was reduced, and moved > 20X faster when placed in areas of open sand. Dead seagrass tissue occurred 4—30X more frequently on oral surfaces than living seagrass tissue. Fecal pellets with dead seagrass tissue were > 3X more common than pellets with live seagrass tissue. Injury to seagrass leaves was more common along dead leaf sections than live sections (> 2—10X). Overall, spatial distributions, movement, and diet indicate that L. variegatus at densities observed in this study would tend to have minimal effects on living seagrass. Episodic periods of denuding grassbeds reported in the literature suggest L. variegatus switches to live seagrass tissue as dead tissue becomes scarce during times of high urchin density. KEY WORDS: Echinoidea, Thalassia, diet, injury, detritivore INTRODUCTION The traditional paradigm that herbivory on living seagrass The green or variegated urchin, Lytechinus variegatus (La- tissue is at most modest due to low palatability and nutritional marck, 1816; hereafter urchin) is often abundant in seagrass quality (e.g., Ogden 1980, Klumpp et al. 1993) has shifted. Im- beds from North Carolina (USA) to Brazil (Greenway 1995, proved methodologies for estimating consumption of seagrass Watts et al. 2013). Published estimates suggest that densi- production indicate that rates vary greatly over time and space, ties are typically < 20 individuals/m2 (e.g. Vadas et al. 1982, from negligible (< 5%) to nearly 100% of leaf production (Ce- Keller 1983, Beddingfield and McClintock 1994, Montague brián and Duarte 1998, Heck and Valentine 2006). Larger et al. 1995, Challener et al. 2019) though densities > 300 in- seagrass grazers, including dugongs, green sea turtles, and dividuals/m2 have been reported (Camp et al. 1973, Rose et many waterfowl, have experienced historic reductions (Jeremy al. 1999). Because of the widespread geographic distribution et al. 2001, Heck and Valentine 2006), suggesting that these and extreme
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