Interactions Between the Nudibranch Okenia Zoobotryon and Its Bryozoan
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University of Central Florida STARS Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 2004 Interactions Between The Nudibranch Okenia Zoobotryon And Its Bryozoan Nicole Robinson University of Central Florida Part of the Biology Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Masters Thesis (Open Access) is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STARS Citation Robinson, Nicole, "Interactions Between The Nudibranch Okenia Zoobotryon And Its Bryozoan" (2004). Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019. 230. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/230 INTERACTIONS BETWEEN THE NUDIBRANCH OKENIA ZOOBOTRYON AND ITS BRYOZOAN PREY ZOOBOTRYON VERTICILLATUM by NICOLE MICHELLE ROBINSON B.S. University of Central Florida, 2000 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in the Department of Biology in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida Fall Term 2004 ABSTRACT In the Indian River Lagoon, the nudibranch Okenia zoobotryon and its egg masses are found attached to the bryozoan Zoobotryon verticillatum throughout the year. Okenia zoobotryon is thought to live, feed, and reproduce exclusively on Z. verticillatum, which would make this a very specialized predator-prey interaction. The primary goal of my study was to document certain aspects of the ecological and chemical relationships between Z. verticillatum and O. zoobotryon. Specifically, I wanted to understand the cues used by the nudibranch to locate and remain on Z. verticillatum. Population surveys on Z. verticillatum, as well as other potential hosts, were performed. From these surveys, I found a small number of O. zoobotryon adults and egg masses on the red macroalga S. filamentosa mixed with Z. verticillatum (0.01 and 0.05 g/wet-weight, respectively), none on the bryozoan Amathia distans, and none on the red macroalga Gracilaria tikvahiae. To determine if prey identification was associated with an adult cue, I ran paired-choice trials. In these, the adults did not significantly prefer Z. verticillatum. Next, laboratory culture of larvae of O. zoobotryon was performed. During larval culture some aspects of this previously undocumented life-history were recorded; adults of this species developed from planktotrophic veliger larvae that hatched out of egg masses between 4 and 6 days, the time post-hatching to settlement was 7-8 days, and metamorphosis occurred approximately 24 hours after settlement. The final question addressed in this study was; “Does O. zoobotryon feed on and take up chemicals from Z. verticillatum?” To address this question, high-performance liquid chromatography was performed on extracts of Z. verticillatum and O. zoobotryon. Both organisms were compared and found to contain similar compounds, which suggest that the nudibranch is feeding on Z. verticillatum and taking up chemicals. ii Concentrations of compounds in Z. verticillatum varied between populations in the northern and southern regions of the Indian River Lagoon. There are, also, differences between the chemical composition of Z. verticillatum in the IRL (northern and southern) and the California species identified by Sato and Fenical (1983). iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Funding for my project was provided by the UCF Department of Biology, the Link Foundation, Smithsonian Marine Station, Fort Pierce, and Dr. Linda Walters (awards from Florida Sea Grant and the National Park Service). Foremost, without the help and guidance of my mom (Mary Jo Hummel) and grandparents (Tom and Mildred Murad) I would not be where I am today. Throughout my life they reassured me that I could achieve anything I set my mind to and for that I am forever grateful. I also want to thank a very special person in my life, Matthew Love. He has been with me through the good times and the bad. Without his support, guidance, inspiration, and caring my journey would not have been nearly as enjoyable. My sincerest appreciation goes to my advisor, Dr. Linda Walters, for her support and guidance from my last year of undergraduate all the way through the completion of my graduate career. My utmost thankfulness goes to all my committee members: Dr. John Weishampel for always being there to listen and provide helpful advice; Dr. Walter K. Taylor for making every moment in his presence a time of laughter, learning, and enjoyment; and Dr. Clay Cook for his knowledge of all things invertebrate, statistical, biological and ecological. I learned more than I could ever have hoped to learn about invertebrates through Dr. Cook. I would like to thank the Link Foundation for providing me the opportunity to work at the Smithsonian Marine Station (SMS) at Fort Pierce. Dr. Mary Rice was instrumental in making the Link fellowship a reality and my sincerest gratitude goes to her. I give a very special thank you to the SMS director, Dr. Valerie Paul who, along with Raphael Ritson-Williams guided me every iv step of the way during my time at SMS. Dr. Paul was extremely valuable in imparting her vast amounts of scientific knowledge. The amount of time that Raphael spent with me explaining the ins and outs of chemical ecology, the inner workings of the equipment, and just simple biology was worth its weight in gold. I have never been good at chemistry and without their guidance I would still be sitting in front of the HPLC machine asking, “How does this thing work?” I also thank other scientists at SMS, especially Dr. Judith Winston and Dr. Scott Santagata for all of their invaluable help with all that is bryozoans. There are not many people who truly get excited at the mention of the word “bryozoan.” I would also like to thank all of the wonderful SMS staff: Joan Kaminski, Sherry Reed, Julie Piraino, Hugh Reichardt, and Woody Lee. All provided unconditional daily support with a smile. Dr. John Scarpa at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute Aquaculture Division provided vast quantities of microalgae to feed the larvae. I also greatly acknowledge all the staff at Canaveral National Seashore, especially Superintendent R. Newkirk and Resource Managers J. Stiner and D. Mock, for providing continued access to this wonderful habitat. Dr. Pedro Quintana-Ascencio provided invaluable assistance with data analysis. The UCF Biology Department staff has always been there when things were either going right or wrong and I could not have made it through UCF without them. Last, but not least, I thank the invaluable people in my life who contributed to the completion of my thesis by means of either physical or mental labor: Julie Liss, Jeffrey Grevert, Tami Haas, Neysa Martinez, Rick Herren, Nathalie Greenwald, and Lauren Hall. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................................ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...............................................................................................iv LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................vii INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................. 1 Biology of nudibranchs ..............................................................................................................................2 Biology of bryozoans and Zoobotryon verticillatum..................................................................................5 METHODS ........................................................................................................................ 9 Study sites ..................................................................................................................................................9 Asexual reproduction of Zoobotryon verticillatum via fragmentation .....................................................11 Distribution and abundance of adult Okenia zoobotryon and Okenia zoobotryon egg masses ................12 Adult Okenia zoobotryon paired-choice preference assays......................................................................14 Larval observations of Okenia zoobotryon...............................................................................................15 Settlement and metamorphosis of Okenia zoobotryon larvae ..................................................................16 Chemistry of Zoobotryon verticillatum and adult Okenia zoobotryon.....................................................17 RESULTS.........................................................................................................................20 Asexual reproduction via fragmentation of Zoobotryon verticillatum .....................................................20 Distribution and abundance of adult Okenia zoobotryon and egg masses................................................20 Settlement and metamorphosis of Okenia zoobotryon larvae ..................................................................40 Chemistry of Zoobotryon verticillatum and adult Okenia zoobotryon.....................................................41 DISCUSSION ..................................................................................................................46 Asexual reproduction via fragmentation of Zoobotryon verticillatum