Feeding Biology of the Starfish Conscinasterias Calamaria (Gray)
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Coscinasterias calamaria (Gray) ....- --· ·-·�---·· ---- ' 1840 (Asteroidea : Asteriidae) University of Tasmania "19'7'7 A thesis submitted toward the desree of Bachelor of Sei.ence with Honours. IT IS ESTIMATED THAT 1 STARFISH CAN KILL 10 SCALLOPS PER DAY. DO NOT CUT UP STARFISH STARFISH SHOULD BE KEPT AND THROW LEGS INTO THE IN CASES AND BROUGHT WATER .... EACH LEG MAY ASHORE ..... TRY THEM AS DEV�LOP INTO ANOTHER GARDEN MANURE AFTER STARFISH. THEY HAVE DIED. CLEANLINESS AND QUALITY ARE ESSENTIAL I For Further information contact: Department of Agriculture, Fisheries Division, Morrison St., Hobart. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would firstly J.ike to thank all members of the /�oology department who assisted me durinr� the course of t�is study. In particular, I am indebted to Dr. D. Ritz he orie;inal r.mP;p;e[>tion which led this �:>tudy, for fo!' t to his assistance throu�hout the year and finally for his critic ism of the manuscript.. flly thanks alGo to Dr. R. \ � b ite who reviewed the final stages of the manuscript in Dr. D. Ritz's absence, and Mr. A. J. Dartnall. whose advise during the year has been most hel pful . To Dr. T. Dix of the Marine Fisheries Division of the Department of A�riculture, many thanks for guidan ce during the early sta� e s of this study, and for the kind loan of scallop surve y reports. I am �rateful for the assistance durin � scallop namplin� of fisheries officers J. Woods, H. Parker and H .. Green, and the many others who helped with field work. Divin� saf ety and support was generously given by Messrs. H. Mawbey, P. Last, e p. �Jarvis, J.. Pope, A. M G if ford and e�:;pec ially Hr.. D.. Breeze .. M S I �auld also like to thank essrs. T. c. and D. w ar d for allowing me to conduct e xpe riments from their j etty at Kettering. I did appre ci at e and benefi t from the fr ee flow of information and m aterials amongst my fellow honours students, especially Mr . G .. Shaw and Hr .. r1�. Fl etche r who oblie;inrr,ly taught me photography. Thanks are also due to Dr. H. Gaymer fox· unselfishly l e nd i. np; me bi[3 photographic equipnent, and c Dr. A. M Kee for producing some fine electroscanning m:i.crographs. I am gr a t efu l to [vJr s. M. D relich for typirw; this the E;i�3 so aecuratel�y and prornptly, and to t1r. A. vJilson for hin continual eneouragernent and he lp.. Finall,y, I wish to express my appreciation to Miss V. Lanzlinger who was a great help both behind the typewriter and on field trips as a diver and data recorder . 90NTEN1._:§ page §ummary _QhaQt,er 1 GENEHAL IN1.1HODUCTION 1A In·troduction 1 1B Study Areas & Sampling Sites 5 i Starfish Sampling Sites 5 ii Scallop Sampling Sites 7 iii Study Areas 9 1C Experimental Animals:Description and Habitats 10 i Scallops 10 ii Starfish 12 Chapter 2 ]"E:E:DING IN .Qoscinasterias palama.ria 2A Introduction 14· 2B Feeding Hates 17 i Materials & Methods 17 ii Results & Discussion 18 2C Feeding Preferences 22 i Materials & Methods 22 ii Results & Discussion 24 2D Food Preference Model 27 2E Feeding on Broken Bivalves 30 i Materials & Methods 30 ii Results & Discussion 2.1? Conditioned Feeding i Materials & Methods ii Results & Discussion 2G Feeding in the Field i Materials & Methods ii Results & Discussion 2H General Discussion .Q.hill2.t� s:PONGE - SCALLOP - sr.l1ARFISH IWI'ERAcrriONS A 3 Introduction 50 3B Materials & Methods 51 i Feeding Experiments 51 ii Experiments Force 53 page 3C Results 55 i Feeding Experiments 55 ii li'orce Experiments 57 Discussion 59 9 ha:r;,rt;e,r_� � BEHAVIOUR OJf... P.R;EY 4A Introduction 62 Responses to Live Starfish 66 i Materials & Methods 66 ii Hesults 68 40 Avoidance Responses to Starfish Extracts '74 i Materials & Methods '74 ii Results 76 4D R Escape esponses in the Field 77 i Materials & Methods '77 ii He�:mlts 78 l+E Discussion 80 G:E:NER!LL DISCUSSION 9Jlf1ll� 85 REFEllliNCES 86 APPENDIX 4 -- 9 Aspe ts of the feed:irw; hiolor�y of larr�e nred:1.tory 1. c the an emphasis on three of its prey species, the seaL! ops Where possible, experimental observations were supplemented with field data. 2. li'eeding rates were calculated for C. _g_al_c:ug§dja to be: comrnerci al . __ • . ____ •__ Btnrfi day; 0. 50 GC all opE> (-]-:>. _rr1_e_�<- r._J_.._(_lJ�-· .... .......-..:. l :t E_> )/ B h1I o. ·) �� queen scallops (.!f.. J2i:t1?.2_nn) /starf·i sb/day; (). ?6 d ouc;hboy rrhe feed i ng rate of c .. £?... expressed as a ? .. 1§:l!l..Q.�i.Q. per day. J.�.. Hac tors affect inr": feed irw rateB W(:re examined .. Differences in rates were attributed to: i) different surface textures of scallops 11) adductor muscle size iii) calorific con tent of food types; Q... g_c">)anlaria does not prefer any one scallop species 5. to another. rphe ap p arent prefGrenee for eommercial scallops probably reflects the differences in feedin� rates. preference model iE:> proposed to d r ne whether 6. A e te mi true preferences existo _g_g;L:;yna_f:i.r:_ consumef3 sign:Lficant.ly grcnter quantities '/. C. of dnmaged bivulves than uninjured bivalves. As the feedinp; rate di d no L dif f er between d amap;ed and undamaged scall.ops, it was concluded that a true prefe rence for inJ ured scallops exists. amar a becomes conditioned eat one food type n. --c. cal--i to. when only one food species is presented to it f or a period of one month. When offered a choic e of two food t,ypes, conditioned starfish chose that which they had previously been exposed to. From measurements in the field waG found that y. it adult calamaria select mussels from all s1ze rangeG whilGt -c. ""--... -··---· juvenile starfish eat small mussels. _QiU_Q;,!llcg':icQ; eonsumes a diverse range of prey species 10. C. Wl96 of .. S'd?:.l.fill!i�:£.t2. were feeding in the field durinp; 11.. C September. An examination of Marine Fisheries D a tmen data on 12. ep r t scallop and starfish distribut ions in Oyster Bay, revealed that the main population of starfish was not feed in� on scallop beds. Seasonal chan�es in position of scallop beds is no t followed by correspondin� chanr;es in E>tarfiGh movements .. The int eractions bet ween doughboy ops M asperrimus) 17,7• s e all ( . , their sponge cover and starfish wns investi�ated. It was found that sponge coverinr� sip.:nificantly reduces predat ion by altering the surface texture of the scallop shell. This increases the efficiency of the escape response by decreasing the adhesive ability of .Q. ill_amad&1 s tube feet. In feeding experiments it as found that significantly 14.. w fewer �ponge-covered than clean shelled d.oughboy scallops were captured and eaten by .Q. £.2.lQ..maria. .l!'orce experiments showed that Q .. £..a1arn_!lEJi: can 15. exert a signi ficantly greater pull on scallops without sponge than on sponge-covered scallops. It if> suge:ested that the as�wc iation of �f'.Jii.!!l.1.1..§. 16. JV!,. with sponges is a mutualism with predation as one of the forces structuring it. 1'/. An investigation of the escape reactions of scallops to starfish was conducted. It was found that the strongest reactions were elicited by the large carnivorous asteroids C. fJ:ll.Q.!I!g_�:,ill and �tl§.!J�s.>stc�l.£ .§S:al;n.'Q_.. Only starfish of the order Forcipulatida the 48. elicited �l wimming re��ponse in scallops.. Asteroids of the order�3 lhanerozonida and Spinulosida provoked weak responses .. responses to starfish extracts were �enernlly 19. Avoidance weaker in intensity than responses to contact with 1iv:inr'; r:;tarfish . 'l'his difJ'erenee rnny be due to lnc:k of tactile stimulation with starfish extracts; ? The dou�hboy scallop reacted less strongly to (...O . livin� starfish when attached to the substrate than when unattached. reaction of scallop:::; to .. calamaria is eonsidered 'l'he ,, -c -----· to be true escape behaviour in response to a recognised pred ator. It is considered that bioehemical similarities between C., £,g,1amar,ia and. other asteroids which do not feed on scal l ops, eause these bival ves to react unnecessarily to contact with the latter .. c 1 Among the most ba::dc interspecific relationships of animals within a community are those between predator and prey sp ecies. In order to understand community structure and its trophic relationships, it is essential that predator - prey interactions be known. However, i.nsufficient knowledge of the quantitative aspects of many such interactions exists . Although ecologists have long recognized the theoretical importance of predator - prey interactions to the understanding of community properties, knowledge of such natural components of the interactions as the role of food preference , the actual types of prey species consumed by a particular predator , and the relative efficacy of escape responses has lagged (Mauzey et al , 1969). Because of economic implications, considerable attention has been attracted to the notorious ability of certain asteroids to capture and consume bivalves. 'rheir depredation of beds of scallops, oysters , mussels and clams in many parts of the world has long caused concern to fisherman and biologists. For example , in 1958, starfish destroyed oyster beds in Connecticut , causing a monetary loss that year of between 10 and 15 million dollars (Loosanoff 1961).