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Structural dynamics of a sea-star (Marthasterias glacialis) population

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 April 2003

Emma Verling
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology and Animal Ecology, University College Cork, Ireland Marine Invasions Research Laboratory, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Box 28, Edgewater, MD 21037, USA
Anne C. Crook
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology and Animal Ecology, University College Cork, Ireland
David K.A. Barnes
Affiliation:
Biological Sciences Division, British Antarctic Survey, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge
Simon S.C. Harrison
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology and Animal Ecology, University College Cork, Ireland

Abstract

The dynamics and feeding biology of a population of Marthasterias glacialis (Echinodermata: Asteroidea) was examined over a two-year period from 2000–2002 at Lough Hyne Marine Nature Reserve, Co. Cork, Ireland. A multivariate approach was used and both multiple factors and multiple interactions between factors were found to influence population structure. These included time of year, site, individual sea-star size, depth, and predator density. Individuals belonging to the smallest size-classes (0–50 mm and 51–100 mm) were most abundant amongst boulders in shallow water (0–1 m), while larger individuals were primarily found in water below 1 m in depth on finer grade substratum and shell debris. Dietary composition was also found to differ with depth; sea-stars in the immediate subtidal had an opportunistic diet, and fed on a variety of taxa, whilst those M. glacialis from 1–6 m were more selective and restrictive, feeding chiefly on bivalve prey. We propose that spatial partitioning of different size-classes and a generalist feeding strategy may account for the success of M. glacialis at Lough Hyne.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
2003 Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom

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