Ecological notes onActinostella flosculifera(Le Sueur, 1817) (Cnidaria: Actiniaria: Actiniidae) in the South-western Atlantic, Brazil

Abstract

AbstractSea anemones have developed various strategies for interspecific interaction with other organisms and their own ability to obtain food, due to their coevolutionary history, ranging from mutualistic (e.g. clownfish, crustaceans, etc.) and symbiotic associations (zooxanthellae or zoochlorellae) to depredation (e.g. sea slug). This study aims to record some observations on feeding habits and interspecific interactions ofActinostella flosculifera(Le Sueur, 1817) in the locality of Pedra da Sereia in Vila Velha, Espírito Santo, Brazil, and to describe the hunting strategy of the sea slugSpurilla brazilianaMacFarland, 1909 and the escape strategy ofA. flosculifera. We found that the habitat ofA. flosculiferais characterized by shallow pools ~10 cm deep at low tides, and this functions as a trap for many organisms and some biowaste (e.g. bones or fish drifting in from nearby populations) that fall into the oral disc. This is the first report ofS. brazilianapredating onA. flosculifera. We also report interspecific relationships betweenA. flosculiferawith four species of crustaceans:Omalacantha bicornuta(Latreille, 1825),Menippecf.nodifronsStimpson, 1859,Alpheuscf.angulosusMcClure, 2002, andAlpheuscf.carlaeAnker, 2012.