Effects of predation upon the long-spined sea urchin Diadema antillarum by the spotted spiny lobster Panulirus guttatus

Abstract

MEPS Marine Ecology Progress Series Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections MEPS 495:185-191 (2014) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps10568 Effects of predation upon the long-spined sea urchin Diadema antillarum by the spotted spiny lobster Panulirus guttatus Meredith D. Kintzing1,2, Mark J. Butler IV1,* 1Department of Biological Sciences, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia 23529, USA 2Present address: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Department of Marine Sciences, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, USA *Corresponding author: mbutler@odu.edu ABSTRACT: Sea urchins, important herbivores in marine ecosystems, are strongly impacted by both the direct and indirect effects of predation, and the long-spined sea urchin Diadema antillarum is no exception. Once abundant on Caribbean coral reefs, D. antillarum populations were decimated by disease in the early 1980s, and only where their natural predators have been overfished has D. antillarum recovery been observed. Spiny lobsters (Palinuridae) are predators of sea urchins, and although there are several species of spiny lobster in the Caribbean, only the spotted spiny lobster Panulirus guttatus is restricted to coral reefs where D. antillarum dwells. We investigated the direct and indirect impacts of P. guttatus on D. antillarum mortality, foraging, and behavior in a series of laboratory experiments. We found that P. guttatus prey on D. antillarum, especially small urchins. D. antillarum also consumed significantly less algae in the presence of P. guttatus and fled when exposed to the odor of P. guttatus but apparently not the scent of the Caribbean spiny lobster P. argus. The altered foraging and avoidance behaviors displayed by D. antillarum are strong evidence that predation by P. guttatus has played an important, but underappreciated, role in the evolutionary history of D. antillarum and perhaps its recovery on Caribbean coral reefs. KEY WORDS: Diadema antillarum · Panulirus guttatus · Florida Keys · Predation · Trait-mediated interactions · Coral reefs Full text in pdf format PreviousNextCite this article as: Kintzing MD, Butler IV MJ (2014) Effects of predation upon the long-spined sea urchin Diadema antillarum by the spotted spiny lobster Panulirus guttatus. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 495:185-191. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps10568 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in MEPS Vol. 495. Online publication date: January 09, 2014 Print ISSN: 0171-8630; Online ISSN: 1616-1599 Copyright © 2014 Inter-Research.