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Differences in resource utilization and behaviour between coexisting Jassa species (Crustacea, Amphipoda)

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Abstract

Species of the genus Jassa are an important element of marine fouling communities, several species often co-occurring on a wide range of hard substrates. At Helgoland (North Sea, German Bight), the cosmopolitan J. marmorata occurs associated with the NW European species J. falcata and J. herdmani. Field and laboratory experiments revealed some ecological differences among species which may facilitate their coexistence. Test panels in the field were instantly colonized by the complete spectrum of resident Jassa species, but J. marmorata proved clearly superior to its congeners in rapidly colonizing new habitats. Further differences among species relate to microhabitat selection (differential use of peripheral and central parts of algal thalli) and the behavioural response to mechanical disturbance.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the crew of the research vessel ‘Aade’ for their help in the field and to Anabel Eulner for her assistance in the laboratory. Karin Boos gave very helpful comments on the statistical analysis of the data. The first author (JB) is financially supported by a scholarship of the Free University of Berlin (Elsa-Neumann-Stipendium of the Federal State of Berlin). Finally, we would like to thank two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments on the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Biologische Anstalt Helgoland, PO Box 180, 27483, Helgoland, Germany

    Jan Beermann & Heinz-Dieter Franke

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  1. Jan Beermann
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  2. Heinz-Dieter Franke
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Correspondence to Jan Beermann.

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Communicated by S. Connell.

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Beermann, J., Franke, HD. Differences in resource utilization and behaviour between coexisting Jassa species (Crustacea, Amphipoda). Mar Biol 159, 951–957 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-011-1872-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-011-1872-7

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