Abstract
The diverse feeding habits of sea anemones have led them to be classified as opportunistic polyphagous predators. However, most studies have focused on the diet of temperate sea anemones, and little is known about the trophic ecology of tropical species and their role in tropical ecosystems. We studied the diet of the intertidal sea anemone Anthopleura nigrescens by examining the gut contents of specimens collected at two sites on Costa Rica’s Pacific coast, testing for differences in prey items captured between daytime and nighttime high tides. We found 25 prey items including: mollusks, crustaceans, annelids, insects and eggs. Juvenile bivalves, barnacle cyprids, and copepods were the main prey items. The anemones at Playa Dominical captured significantly more juvenile bivalves during nighttime high tides, and those at Mata de Limon captured more cyprids during daytime high tides. This study shows that A. nigrescens is an opportunistic polyphagous predator, like most of its temperate counterparts.
Highlights
The diverse feeding habits of sea anemones have led them to be classified as opportunistic polyphagous predators
Insects are an occasional prey item that reflect the opportunistic character of this species
The time of the high tides seems to have an effect on the types of prey that become available to the sea anemones
Summary
The diverse feeding habits of sea anemones have led them to be classified as opportunistic polyphagous predators. Anthopleura nigrescens (Verrill 1928) is a common, azooxanthellate sea anemone in the rocky intertidal habitats of Costa Rica’s Pacific coast It is most abundant in the lower intertidal zone, but can occur in the middle and upper zones, usually in crevices or pools (Acuña et al 2012). Aggregating behavior and adhesive verrucae that attach gravel to the column diminish desiccation (Hart and Crowe 1977; Bingham et al 2011), and presumably allow A. nigrescens to colonize hot, tropical intertidal zones. This species was redescribed in detail using specimens from Hawaii (Dunn 1974) and was only recently recorded for Costa Rica, indicating that it is distributed across the Indo-Pacific (Acuña et al.2012). Its abundance and ease of identification and collection in the field make it an ideal species for trophic ecology studies
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