Summary
The site of settlement of barnacles (Balanus improvisus) attached on shells of bluemussels (Mytilus edulis) was mapped from a sample of mussels collected in the Baltic Sea. Most barnacles had settled near the siphonal apertures of the mussel. An experiment was made to measure the disadvantages and advantages that living in close association brings to barnacles and mussels. The barnacles on shells of living mussels were shown to grow significantly faster than those on empty mussel shells. Presence of barnacles had no effects on growth of mussels. The two-species association under study was demonstrated to be a case of commensalism.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bayne BL (ed) (1976) Marine mussels; their ecology and physiology. Cambridge University press, Cambridge
Boucher DH (1985) The idea of mutualism, past and future. In: Boucher DH (ed) The biology of mutualism: Ecology and evolution. Croom Helm, London&Sydney
Boucher DH, James S, Keeler KH (1982) The ecology of mutualism. Ann Rev Ecol Syst 13:315–347
Connell JH (1961a) The influence of interspecific competition and other factors on the distribution of the barnacle Chthamalus stellatus. Ecology 42:710–723
Connell JH (1961b) Effects of competition, predation by Thais lapillus and other factors on natural populations of the barnacle Balanus balanoides. Ecol Monogr 31:61–104
Crisp DJ (1955) The behaviour of barnacle cyprids in relation to water movement over a surface. J Exp Biol 32:569–590
Crisp DJ (1961) Territorial behaviour in barnacle settlement. J Exp Biol 38:429–446
Crisp DJ (1979) Dispersal and re-aggregation in sessile marine invertebrates, particularly barnacles. In: Larwood & Rosen (eds) Biology and systematics of colonial organisms. Academic Press, New York
Crisp DJ, Meadows PS (1963) Absorbed layers: the stimulus to settlement in barnacles. Proc R Soc B 158:364–387
Harger JRE (1972) Competitive coexistence among intertidal invertebrates. Am. Sci 60:600–607
Kühl T (1952) Über das Aufsuchen des Siedelplatzes durch die Cyprislarven von B. impr. D. Verh der Deutscher zool. Ges in Freiburg: 190–200
May RM (1982) Mutualistic interactions among species. Nature 296:803–804
May RM (1984) A test of ideas about mutualism. Nature 307:410–411
Paine RT (1969) The Pisaster-Tegula interaction: prey patches, predator food preference, and intertidal community structure. Ecology 50:950–961
Paine RT (1971) A short term experimental investigation of resource partitioning in a New Zealand rocky intertidal habitat. Ecology 52:1096–1106
Paine RT (1974) Intertidal community structure. Experimental studies on the relationship between a dominant competitor and its principal predator. Oecologia (Berlin) 15:93–120
Yule AB, Walker G (1985) Settlement of Balanus balanoides: the effect of cyprid antennular secretion. J Mar Biol Ass UK 65:707–712
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Laihonen, P., Furman, E.R. The site of settlement indicates commensalism between bluemussel and its epibiont. Oecologia 71, 38–40 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00377317
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00377317