Taxonomy, Ecology, and Behavior of the Kleptoplastic Sea Slug Elysia Papillosa William Alan Gowacki University of South Florida, [email protected]
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
University of South Florida Scholar Commons Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate School March 2017 Taxonomy, Ecology, and Behavior of the Kleptoplastic Sea Slug Elysia papillosa William Alan Gowacki University of South Florida, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd Part of the Biology Commons, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons, and the Other Education Commons Scholar Commons Citation Gowacki, William Alan, "Taxonomy, Ecology, and Behavior of the Kleptoplastic Sea Slug Elysia papillosa" (2017). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/6848 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Taxonomy, Ecology, and Behavior of the Kleptoplastic Sea Slug Elysia papillosa by William Alan Gowacki A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Integrative Biology with a concentration in Ecology & Evolution Department of Integrative Biology College of Arts & Sciences University of South Florida Major Professor: Susan S. Bell, Ph.D. Michael L. Middlebrooks, Ph.D. Bradford J. Gemmell, Ph.D. Date of Approval: February 17, 2017 Keywords: Chloroplast sequestration, Sacoglossa, Rhizophytic algae, Host Preference, Phototaxy Copyright © 2017, William A. Gowacki DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to my entire family, especially my parents, Alicia M. Gowacki and William C. Gowacki. Without their support, guidance, and love, I would not be where I am today. It is also dedicated to the many doctors and nurses responsible for me surviving two battles with cancer. Finally, I also dedicate this thesis to my bone marrow donor, George, whose selfless donation provided me with a second chance at life. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my major professor, Dr. Susan S. Bell, for her guidance throughout my graduate career, and my committee members, Dr. Michael L. Middlebrooks and Dr. Bradford J. Gemmell, for their valued assistance and guidance. I am also greatly appreciative of Dr. Sidney K. Pierce for providing me with the means to conduct the research presented in this thesis, as well as his invaluable mentorship. My thanks to my labmates, Elizabeth A. Salewski, Shannon V. Grogan, Derrick S. Hudson, and Erin P. Kiskaddon for their support and friendship. I also wish thank Edward Haller for his assistance in obtaining scanning electron micrographs of radular teeth. Thanks also to Ashley K. Peiffer for her assistance in data collection and friendship. Finally, this research would not have been possible without the support of a private donor, who wishes to remain anonymous. TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures ............................................................................................................................ iii Abstract....................................................................................................................................... v Chapter One: Correcting Taxonomic Confusion for the Kleptoplastic Sea Slug Elysia papillosa Verrill (1901) ............................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1 Materials and Methods .................................................................................................... 3 Study Site ............................................................................................................ 3 Slug Collection and Maintenance ......................................................................... 3 Means of Comparison with Previous Descriptions ................................................ 4 Dorsal Surface Vessel Morphology ...................................................................... 4 Radular Tooth Morphology ................................................................................... 5 Egg Mass Morphology ......................................................................................... 5 Results ............................................................................................................................ 6 Gross Morphology ................................................................................................ 6 Dorsal Surface Vessel Morphology ...................................................................... 7 Gametolytic Vesicles ............................................................................................ 8 Radular Teeth ...................................................................................................... 8 Egg Mass Morphology and Development ............................................................. 9 Swimming Behavior ........................................................................................... 10 Discussion ..................................................................................................................... 10 References .................................................................................................................... 11 Chapter Two: Ecology and Behavior of Elysia papillosa ............................................................ 23 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 23 Materials and Methods .................................................................................................. 26 Seasonality and Abundance Collections ............................................................ 26 Host Preference Collections ............................................................................... 27 Phototactic Behavior .......................................................................................... 29 Results .......................................................................................................................... 30 Seasonal Abundance ......................................................................................... 30 Algal Host Preference ........................................................................................ 31 Phototaxis .......................................................................................................... 32 Discussion ..................................................................................................................... 32 References .................................................................................................................... 35 Appendix A: Diagram of Phototaxis Chamber ........................................................................... 47 Appendix B: Abundance of Elysia papillosa as a Function of Sea Temperature ........................ 48 Appendix C: Permission to reproduce figures from Ortea et al. (2005) ...................................... 49 i Appendix D: Permission to reproduce figures from Marcus and Marcus (1967) and Marcus (1980) ...................................................................................................................................... 51 ii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1: Tarpon Springs slug on the alga Penicillus lamourouxii ........................................... 14 Figure 1.2: Drawing of Elysia papillosa accompanying the original species description (Verrill 1901) ............................................................................................................ 15 Figure 1.3: Ortea et al.’s (2005) drawing of the head region of “Elysia patina” .......................... 16 Figure 1.4: Dorsal view drawings of (A) Elysia papillosa (Marcus 1980), and (B) Elysia patina (Marcus 1980) ............................................................................................... 17 Figure 1.5: DSVM of Tarpon Springs slug ................................................................................. 18 Figure 1.6: Dorsal view drawings of (A) “Elysia papillosa” and (B) “Elysia patina”, from Ortea et al. (2005).................................................................................................... 19 Figure 1.7: SEM images of (A) the entire radula of the Tarpon Springs slug (scale bar = 50 µm), and (B) a close up of a single radular tooth of the Tarpon Springs slug (scale bar = 15 µm) .......................................................................................... 20 Figure 1.8: Side-by-side comparison of the drawings of the radular teeth for (A) Elysia papillosa (Marcus and Marcus 1967), (B) “Elysia patina” (Ortea et al. 2005), (C) Elysia patina (Marcus 1980), and (D) “Elysia papillosa (Ortea et al. 2005) ......... 21 Figure 1.9: Newly deposited egg mass of Tarpon Springs slug ................................................. 22 Figure 2.1: Abundance of Elysia papillosa from October 2014 to September 2015 ................... 41 Figure 2.2: Mean algal biomass (g dry weight m-2) for the three algal species, Penicillus capitatus (solid line), Penicillus lamourouxii (dashed line), and Halimeda incrassata (dotted line) from October 2014 to September 2015 ............................... 42 Figure 2.3: Mean number of Elysia papillosa m-2 as a function of algal biomass (g dry weight m-2) for (A) total combined algae, (B) Penicillus capitatus, (C) Penicillus lamourouxii,