Depth-related plasticity in the diet composition of <i>Pseudechinus magellanicus</i> (Echinoidea, Temnopleuridae) in nearshore environments off central Patagonia, Argentina

<i>Pseudechinus magellanicus</i> is one of the most abundant sea urchins in southern South America, but many aspects of its feeding ecology in nearshore environments remain unknown. Here, we aimed to analyze the variability of the diet composition along a coastal depth gradient from inte...

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Autores principales: Gil, Damián Gaspar, Boraso, Alicia L., Lopretto, Estela Celia, Zaixso, Héctor Eliseo
Formato: Articulo
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: 2021
Materias:
Ciencias Naturales
Benthos
Intertidal
Grazing
Echinodermata
Sea urchins
Acceso en línea:http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/135014
Aporte de:
SEDICI (UNLP) de Universidad Nacional de La Plata
id I19-R120-10915-135014
record_format dspace
institution Universidad Nacional de La Plata
institution_str I-19
repository_str R-120
collection SEDICI (UNLP)
language Inglés
topic Ciencias Naturales
Benthos
Intertidal
Grazing
Echinodermata
Sea urchins
spellingShingle Ciencias Naturales
Benthos
Intertidal
Grazing
Echinodermata
Sea urchins
Gil, Damián Gaspar
Boraso, Alicia L.
Lopretto, Estela Celia
Zaixso, Héctor Eliseo
Depth-related plasticity in the diet composition of <i>Pseudechinus magellanicus</i> (Echinoidea, Temnopleuridae) in nearshore environments off central Patagonia, Argentina
topic_facet Ciencias Naturales
Benthos
Intertidal
Grazing
Echinodermata
Sea urchins
description <i>Pseudechinus magellanicus</i> is one of the most abundant sea urchins in southern South America, but many aspects of its feeding ecology in nearshore environments remain unknown. Here, we aimed to analyze the variability of the diet composition along a coastal depth gradient from intertidal tidepools to upper circalittoral zones and examine the relation between seaweed availability and the diet composition at intertidal tidepools. A total of 118 food items, including seaweeds and animal components, were identified. The diet composition showed a large variation between the different coastal habitats present along the depth gradient studied. In tidepools, articulate coralline seaweeds (<i>Corallina</i> spp.), mussel shell fragments and small crustaceans were frequent in the gut contents, suggesting that this species behaves like a general omnivore but can also act as a mussel bioeroder when consuming epizoic algae and microeuendolithic organisms. In intertidal tidepools, the species showed a negative preference toward typical species of late successional stages such as <i>Dictyota dichotoma</i>, <i>Adenocystis utricularis</i>, <i>Codium fragile</i> and <i>Chondria macrocarpa</i>. Sea urchins from kelp forests showed higher dietary diversity than those from intertidal and deeper subtidal habitats, but with prevalence of kelps. At upper circalittoral soft bottoms, diverse detrital items as benthic diatoms, cyanobacteria and drifted algae were observed in gut contents, usually associated with fine sediments, indicating that <i>P. magellanicus</i> captures drifted algae and behaves like a biofilm feeder. This trophic plasticity may allow this species to occupy contrasting habitats and may also contribute to explain its wide distribution in southern South America.
format Articulo
Articulo
author Gil, Damián Gaspar
Boraso, Alicia L.
Lopretto, Estela Celia
Zaixso, Héctor Eliseo
author_facet Gil, Damián Gaspar
Boraso, Alicia L.
Lopretto, Estela Celia
Zaixso, Héctor Eliseo
author_sort Gil, Damián Gaspar
title Depth-related plasticity in the diet composition of <i>Pseudechinus magellanicus</i> (Echinoidea, Temnopleuridae) in nearshore environments off central Patagonia, Argentina
title_short Depth-related plasticity in the diet composition of <i>Pseudechinus magellanicus</i> (Echinoidea, Temnopleuridae) in nearshore environments off central Patagonia, Argentina
title_full Depth-related plasticity in the diet composition of <i>Pseudechinus magellanicus</i> (Echinoidea, Temnopleuridae) in nearshore environments off central Patagonia, Argentina
title_fullStr Depth-related plasticity in the diet composition of <i>Pseudechinus magellanicus</i> (Echinoidea, Temnopleuridae) in nearshore environments off central Patagonia, Argentina
title_full_unstemmed Depth-related plasticity in the diet composition of <i>Pseudechinus magellanicus</i> (Echinoidea, Temnopleuridae) in nearshore environments off central Patagonia, Argentina
title_sort depth-related plasticity in the diet composition of <i>pseudechinus magellanicus</i> (echinoidea, temnopleuridae) in nearshore environments off central patagonia, argentina
publishDate 2021
url http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/135014
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