Predation on zooplankton by the benthic anthozoans Alcyonium siderium (Alcyonacea) and Metridium senile (Actiniaria) in the New England subtidal

Abstract

The Alcyonacean octocoral Alcyonium siderium Verrill and the sea anemone Metridium senile (L.), the only common perennial zooplanktivores on shallow (≦16-m depth) subtidal rock walls in much of northern New England, USA, are of similar heights and overlap in their habitat and microhabit distributions. The coelenteron contents of both species were sampled at four-hour intervals over a diel cycle and were compared to zooplankton available in the water at 1 to 5 cm from the rock wall, the height at which the cnidarians held their feeding tentacles. Prey in coelenterons of A. siderium were significantly smaller (means of 256 to 345 μm), and those in coelenterons of M. senile were equal to or slightly greater in length (means of 415 to 1006 μm) than the available zooplankton. The diets of A. siderium and M. senile differed significantly from each other and from the available zooplankton. A. siderium showed strong positive electivites for ascidian larvae and for foraminiferans, and strongly negative electivities for most crustaceans. M. senile had strong positive electivities for barnacle cyprids, ascidian larvae, and gammarid amphipods, and strong negative electivities for invertebrate eggs, foraminiferans, calanoid and harpacticoid copepods, and ostracods. Electivities may reflect tentacle avoidance or escape by motile prey as well as predator preference. Substratum-associated organisms (e.g. demersal crustaceans, larvae of benthic invertebrates) were the most common items in the diets of both species, suggesting a tight benthic food web, similar to the situation for coral reef anthrozoans which rely on reef-generated zooplankton. A. siderium ate large numbers of ascidian larvae which, as benthic adults, compete for space with A. siderium and can overgrow small colonies. Predation on the larvae of a competing species may alleviate competition by decreasing the competitor's recruitment.