Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Exudation of biologically-active metabolites in the sponge Aplysina fistularis

I. Biological evidence

  • Published:
Marine Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Substances exuded by the intertidal sponge Aplysina fistularis (Pallas, 1776) from San Diego, California, USA, were collected with open (flowing) and closed seawater systems. The exudates were tested in bioassays for: (1) behavior modifications of invertebrate adults, including a hydroid, an ectoproct, a limpet and a sea star, (2) toxicity to dorid nudibranchs (three species), (3) inhibition of sexual reproduction in a brown alga, and (4) inhibition of settlement and/or metamorphosis of late larvae or juveniles, including an ectoproct, a polychaete and a gastropod. Exudates inhibited metamorphosis of gastropod veliger larvae and caused behavior modifications in all invertebrate adults, but were not toxic to dorid nudibranchs. It is proposed that exudates help protect A. fistularis from surface overgrowth by fouling organisms and from tissue damage by mobile animals.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Literature cited

  • Catalan, C. A. N., J. E. Thompson, W. C. M. C. Kokke and C. Djerassi: Biosynthetic studies of marine lipids. 3. Experimental demonstration of the course of side chain extension in marine sterols. Tetrahedron 41, 1073–1084 (1985)

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodbody, I.: Inhibition of the development of a marine sessile community. Nature, Lond. 190, 282–283 (1961)

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, J. B. C. and L. Buss: Allelopathy and spatial competition among coral reef invertebrates. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 72, 5160–5163 (1975)

    Google Scholar 

  • Sammarco, P. W., J. C. Coll, S. LaBarre and B. Willis: Competitive strategies of soft corals (Coelenterata: Octocorallia): allelopathic effects on selected scleractinian corals. Coral Reefs. 1, 173–178 (1983)

    Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan, B., D. J. Faulkner and L. Webb: Siphonodictidine a metabolite of the burrowing sponge Siphonodictyon sp. that inhibits coral growth. Science, N.Y. 221, 1175–1176 (1983)

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, J. E.: Chemical ecology and the structure of sponge dominated assemblages, 332 pp. Ph.D. thesis, University of California, San Diego 1984

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, J. E., R. P. Walker and D. J. Faulkner: Screening and bioassays for biologically-active substances from forty marine sponge species from San Diego, California USA. Mar. Biol. 88, 11–21 (1985)

    Google Scholar 

  • Walker, R. P., J. E. Thompson and D. J. Faulkner: Exudation of biologically-active metabolites in the sponge Aplysina fistularis. II. Chemical evidence. Mar. Biol. 88, 27–32 (1985)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Author notes

  1. J. E. Thompson

    Present address: Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, 94305, Stanford, California, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biological Oceanography Group, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, 92093, La Jolla, California, USA

    J. E. Thompson

Authors
  1. J. E. Thompson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Thompson, J.E. Exudation of biologically-active metabolites in the sponge Aplysina fistularis . Mar. Biol. 88, 23–26 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00393039

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00393039

Keywords

Search

Navigation