Microhabitat-associated variability in survival and growth of subtidal solitary ascidians during the first 21 days after settlement

Abstract

Newly settled juvenile ascidians were transplanted into shaded and unshaded sites at two subtidal depths to test the hypothesis that photonegative settlement behavior enhances juvenile survival. Silt, filamentous algae and grazing gastropods (Margarites pupillus) were identified as sources of mortality associated primarily with non-cryptic microhabitats. Silt inflicted heavy mortality on all six species tested. Algal overgrowth was important in shallow water, where it increased mortality and depressed growth rates over a 14-d period. Laboratory experiments demonstrated that gastropods can remove juvenile ascidians from the substratum. The sources of post-settlement mortality investigated may help determine distributional patterns of ascidians in the San Juan Islands, Washington, USA, and may also represent selective pressures that maintain negative phototaxis in the behavioral repertoires of ascidian tadpoles.