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What do caprellids (Crustacea: Amphipoda) feed on?

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Abstract

The present study represents the first comprehensive work dealing with the dietary analysis of Caprellidea. We studied 743 specimens of 31 genera and 62 species from all around the world. Analysis of digestive contents revealed that caprellids are mainly detritivores (detritus represented the 86% of the caprellid diet), but a small percentage of species, those lacking molars belonging to the Phtisicinae, can be considered as obligate predators and feed mainly on small crustaceans (copepods and other amphipods) and polychaetes. The contribution of sponges, hydroids, macroalgae, diatoms and dinoflagellates to the caprellid diet was very low (<2%). Apart from the clear relationship between the absence of molar process and predators, no other correlations between digestive contents and mouthpart structure were found. Cluster analysis based on the dietary data indicated a patent segregation between the Phtisicinae (obligate predators) and Caprellinae (detritivores, detritivores/predators or opportunistics) and could support the hypothesis of basal divergence in two major lines of evolution: Phtisicinae and Caprogammaridae–Caprellinae. Consequently, the debate questioning if the taxon Caprellidea is a monophyletic group or not is still open. Additional morphological, molecular and behavioral studies are necessary to define the evolutionary relationships in this group of crustaceans.

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Acknowledgments

Financial support of this work was provided by the Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (Project CGL2007-60044/BOS) co-financed by FEDER funds, and by the Consejería de Innovación, Ciencia y Empresa, Junta de Andalucía (Project P07-RNM-02524). Special thanks to Dr. Manuel Jesús López-Rodríguez for his help during the processing of the samples and for the English revision of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio de Biología Marina, Departamento de Fisiología y Zoología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Sevilla, Avda. Reina Mercedes 6, 41012, Sevilla, Spain

    José Manuel Guerra-García

  2. Departamento de Biología Animal, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Granada, Campus Fuentenueva, 18071, Granada, Spain

    José Manuel Tierno de Figueroa

Authors
  1. José Manuel Guerra-García
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  2. José Manuel Tierno de Figueroa
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Correspondence to José Manuel Guerra-García.

Additional information

Communicated by F. Bulleri.

Appendix

Appendix

List of the 62 caprellid species used for the study. Whenever possible, data of substrate, depth, location and date of collection are provided (for some species some of these data were not available).

Aeginella spinosa Boeck, 1861: Sand, 160 m, Island, 12/07/1993.

Aeginina longicornis (Kroyer, 1843): Silty sand, 489 m, Island, 15/07/1993.

Caprella acanthifera Leach, 1814: Seaweeds intertidal pools, Tarifa (Spain), 1991 and 2008; seaweed Cystoseira usneoides, 5–10 m, Ceuta (Spain), 1999.

Caprella acanthogaster Mayer, 1890: Filamentous algae, 2–6 m, Tasmania (Australia), 16/04/1993.

Caprella acanthopoda Guiler, 1954: Victoria (Australia).

Caprella andreae Mayer, 1890: caparace turtle of Caretta caretta, Algeciras Bay, Cádiz (Spain), May 1999.

Caprella californica Stimpson, 1856: Vancouver (Canada).

Caprella cf dubia Hansen, 1887: Buoys and ropes, Bamfield (Canada), March 2005.

Caprella danilevskii Czerniavskii, 1868: Hydroid Cnidoscyphus imarginatus, 0–10 m, Bahía Concha (Colombia), 08/07/1985; seaweeds Cystoseira usneoides, C. tamariscifolia and Asparagopsis armata, 0–10 m, Ceuta and Alboran Island (Spain), 1999; seaweed Gracilaria verrucosa, intertidal, Mindelo (Portugal);

Caprella decipiens Mayer, 1890: Sargassum spp., 0–10 m, Japan, April 2007.

Caprella dilatata Kroyer, 1843: Mussels, intertidal, Uruguay, 2005; Fish farms, 0–2 m, Alicante (Spain), 05/12/2006; buoys, 0–1 m, Algeciras and Huelva (Spain), 2004.

Caprella equilibra Say, 1818: Seaweeds Gelidium spp., 0–5 m, Huelva (Spain), January 1999; buoys, Japan, October 1999; hydroids under boulders, Coquimbo (Chile), 14/12/2000; on farms of Cassostrea gigas, 15 m, Cádiz (Spain), 12/08/2007.

Caprella erethizon Mayer, 1901: Hydroids, 30–40 m, Ceuta (Spain), August 1999.

Caprella grandimana (Mayer, 1882): Seaweed Corallina elongata, intertidal, Tarifa (Spain), 2008.

Caprella hirsuta Mayer, 1890: Seaweeds Jania spp., Cystoseira tamariscifolia and Corallina elongata, 0–3 m, Cádiz, Málaga and Alborán Island (Spain), 1992, 2006 and 2008.

Caprella horrida Sars, 1877: Artic, 24/08/1978.

Caprella kernnerlyi (Stimpson, 1864): Vancouver (Canada).

Caprella linearis (Linnaeus, 1767): On hydroids attached to the surface of seaweed Fucus serratus, Clachan Seil (Scotland), 28/5/2000.

Caprella liparotensis Haller, 1879: Seaweed Cystoseira tamariscifolia and hydroids, 0–2 m, Málaga and Alborán Island (Spain), 2004 and 2006.

Caprella monoceros Mayer, 1890: Sargassum spp., 0–10 m, Japan, April 2007.

Caprella mutica Schurin, 1935: Pontoons out of the Helgoland harbour, Helgoland (Germany), 2006.

Caprella penantis Leach, 1814: Seaweeds Gelidium spp, Asparagopsis armata, Cystoseira tamariscifolia, Pterocladia capillacea, intertidal, Cádiz, Ceuta (Spain), Castelejo (Portugal), Safi and Grottes d’Hercule (Morocco), 2006–2008; hydroid Cnidosciphus, Bahía Concha (Colombia), 1985.

Caprella sabulensis Guerra-García, Sánchez-Moyano and García-Gómez, 2001: Sediments, biodetritic, 15 m, Ceuta (Spain), 18/08/2000.

Caprella santosrosai Sánchez-Moyano, Jiménez-Martín and García-Gómez, 1995: Hydroids, 30–40 m. Ceuta (Spain), August 1999.

Caprella scaura Templeton, 1836: Red algae, 0–3 m, Mauritius, 24/06/2002; seagrass Heterozostera, 2 m, South Australia; ephiphytic algae, 1 m, Koronissia (Greece), 03/08/2002; buoys, Coquimbo (Chile), 30/10/2006

Caprella subinermis Mayer, 1890: Sargassum spp., 0–10 m, Japan, April 2007.

Caprella tuberculata Guérin, 1836: Seaweed Dilophus spiralis and hydroid Sertularella gayi, 20–30 m, Ceuta (Spain), July 1999.

Caprella verrucosa Boeck, 1871: On floating buoys, Coquimbo (Chile), October 2006.

Caprellaporema subantarctica Guerra-García, 2003: 103 m, Antipodes Islands (New Zealand), 03/01/1967.

Caprellina longicollis Nicolet, 1849: Seaweeds and seagrasses, 2–3 m, Tongoy Bay (Chile), 16/12/2000.

Deutella vemae (McCain and Gray, 1971): Canal Tuamapu (Chile), 15/11/2002.

Deutella venenosa Mayer, 1890: On floating buoys, Coquimbo (Chile), December 2000.

Dodecas tasmaniensis Guiler, 1954: 5 m, Tasmania (Australia), 17/06/1992.

Hemiaegina minuta Mayer, 1890: Mixed algae, Andaman Islands (India), 31/12/1978.

Liriarchus perplexus Mayer, 1912: Red algae with epiphitic hydroids and bryozoans, 24 m, King George Sound (Australia), 17/12/1983.

Liropus africanus Mayer, 1920: Sediments?, Senegal.

Mayerella magellanica McCain and Gray, 1971: Muddy bottoms, 50 m, Huasco (Chile), August 1996.

Metaprotella mauritiensis Guerra-García, 2003: Fine sediments among soft corals of the genus Dendronephthya, 2–3 m, Cap Malheureux (Mauritius). July 2002.

Metaprotella sandalensis Mayer, 1898: Seaweed Turbinaria ornata, 3 m, Baie du Tombeau (Mauritius), 9/07/2002.

Metaproto novaehollandiae (Haswell, 1880): Sand, 5–25 m, Lizard Island (Australia), 16/10/2001.

Monoliropus agilis Mayer, 1903: Persian Gulf.

Orthoprotella australis (Haswell, 1880): Hydroids, 2–3 m, Bali (Indonesia), 19/05/1994.

Orthoprotella pearce Guerra-García, 2006: Hydroids, 5–10 m, Lizard Island (Australia), October, 2001.

Paracaprella pusilla Mayer, 1890: Hydroids, 0–1 m. Sta Marta (Colombia), 16/05/1985.

Paracaprella tenuis Mayer, 1903: Intertidal, under boulders, clinging on sponges, Mauritius, 13/02/2002.

Paradeutella bidentata Mayer, 1890: Data not available.

Pariambus typicus (Kroyer, 1884): Gross sand, 3 m, Ceuta (Spain), August 2000.

Parvipalpus onubensis Guerra-García, García-Asencio and Sánchez-Moyano, 2001: Gross sand, 20 m, Huelva (Spain), August 2000.

Pedoculina garciagomezi Sánchez-Moyano, Carballo and Estacio, 1995: Seaweeds Halopteris spp., 10 m, Algeciras Bay, Cádiz (Spain), March 1992.

Perotripus keablei Guerra-García, 2006: Sand, 1.5 m, Lizard Island (Australia), 30/09/1978.

Phtisica marina Slabber, 1769: Seaweeds Halopteris scoparia and Zonaria sp., anthozoan Anemonia sulcata, ascidian Synoicum blochmanni and coarse sediments, 3–25 m, Ceuta (Spain), 1999 and 2000; hydroid Eudendrium armatum 35 m, Ceuta (Spain), 1999; bryozoan Bugula neritina, 2 m, May 2008.

Proaeginina norvegica (Stephensen, 1931): Silty sand, 1085 m, Island, 27/08/1995.

Protella similis Mayer, 1903: Hydroids, 10–12 m, Bali (Indonesia), 24/05/1994.

Protellina ingolfi Stephensen, 1944: Gravely sand, 746 m, Island, 13/07/1993.

Pseudaeginella colombensis Guerra-García, Müller and Krapp-Schickel, 2006: Algae, hydroids and bryozoan, 6–10 m, Punta El Diamante (Colombia), 25/02/1986.

Pseudaeginella inae Krapp-Schickel and Guerra-García, 2005, rocks, 0–0.5 m, Bali Desa Antita (Indonesia), 22/09/1987

Pseudocaprellina pambanensis Sundara Rej, 1927: Algae and sediment, 0–1 m, Cape Range National Park (Australia), 31/12/1983.

Pseudolirius kroyeri (Haller, 1897): Fine sediments, 12 m, Algeciras Bay, Cádiz (Spain), 22/08/1991.

Pseudoprotella inermis Chevreaux, 1927: Seaweed Dilophus spiralis and hydroid Sertularella gayi, 30–40 m, Ceuta (Spain), August 1999.

Pseudoprotella phasma Montagu, 1804: Hydroid Aglaophenia pluma, 1 m, Huelva (Spain), 1989; seaweed Cystoseira usneoides, 5–20 m, Tarifa and Ceuta (Spain), 1999; gorgonian Paramuricea clavata and hydroids Sertularella gayi and Eudendrium armatum 35–40 m, Ceuta (Spain), 1999.

Quadrisegmentum triangulum Hirayama, 1988: Gorgonians, 25 m, Lizard Island (Australia), 14/10/2001.

Thorina elongata Laubitz and Mills, 1972: Silty sand, 1681 m, Island, 31/08/1995.

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Guerra-García, J.M., Tierno de Figueroa, J.M. What do caprellids (Crustacea: Amphipoda) feed on?. Mar Biol 156, 1881–1890 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-009-1220-3

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