1 Feeding preferences of the sea urchin Diadema 2 setosum (Leske, 1778) in Taklong Island National 3 Marine Reserve, Guimaras, Philippines 4 Jennelle Christianne S. Luza1, Maria Celia D. Malay1, 5 1 Division of Biological Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, University of the Philippines 6 Visayas, Miagao, Iloilo, Philippines 7 8 Corresponding Author: 9 Jennelle Christianne Luza1 10 Brgy. Inzo Arnaldo Village, Roxas City, Capiz, 5800, Philippines 11 Email address:
[email protected] 12 13 14 Abstract 15 Background. Sea urchins are keystone herbivores that greatly influence primary productivity, 16 algal abundance and scleractinian coral recruitment. The long-spined black sea urchin Diadema 17 setosum is widespread and abundant in reef flats throughout the Philippines. Prior studies 18 regarding the feeding preference of D. setosum have been conducted overseas, but little is known 19 about the impact of the echinoid herbivory on reef flat communities in the Philippines. Feeding 20 preferences of D. setosum on four common marine plant species, Halimeda macroloba, 21 Ceratodictyon spongiosum, Padina sp., and Enhalus acoroides were investigated at the 22 University of the Philippines Visayas Marine Biological Laboratory, located in Taklong Island 23 National Marine Reserve (TINMR), Guimaras. 24 Methods. Two food choice experiments were conducted; choice feeding and no-choice feeding. 25 The outcome of choice feeding experiments, expressed as consumption (in g) and percent 26 consumption (%), were used to determine its feeding preferences. The two most preferred feeds 27 determined were then used in no-choice feeding experiment to measure its consumption rate 28 (g⸱echinoid-1⸱hr-1). 29 Results.