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Seasonal fluctuation in food sources of herbivorous gastropods in a subtropical seagrass bed estimated by stable isotope analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 December 2018

Kenta Nakamoto Open the ORCID record for Kenta Nakamoto [Opens in a new window] ,
Jun Hayakawa ,
Tomohiko Kawamura ,
Naoya Ohtsuchi ,
Hideaki Yamada ,
Takashi Kitagawa  and
Yoshiro Watanabe
Kenta Nakamoto*
Affiliation:
International Coastal Research Center, Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, 2-106-1, Akahama, Otsuchi, Iwate 028-1102, Japan
Jun Hayakawa
Affiliation:
International Coastal Research Center, Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, 2-106-1, Akahama, Otsuchi, Iwate 028-1102, Japan
Tomohiko Kawamura
Affiliation:
International Coastal Research Center, Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, 2-106-1, Akahama, Otsuchi, Iwate 028-1102, Japan
Naoya Ohtsuchi
Affiliation:
International Coastal Research Center, Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, 2-106-1, Akahama, Otsuchi, Iwate 028-1102, Japan
Hideaki Yamada
Affiliation:
Seikai National Fisheries Research Institute, Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency, 1551-8, Taira-machi, Nagasaki, Nagasaki 851-2213, Japan
Takashi Kitagawa
Affiliation:
International Coastal Research Center, Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, 2-106-1, Akahama, Otsuchi, Iwate 028-1102, Japan
Yoshiro Watanabe
Affiliation:
Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, 5-1-5, Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8564, Japan
*
Author for correspondence: Kenta Nakamoto, [email protected]
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Abstract

Various herbivorous invertebrates in seagrass beds are considered to be generalists in food use and their diets may temporally fluctuate according to the availability of food sources. We assessed whether food sources of herbivorous gastropods vary in a subtropical seagrass bed in Nagura Bay, Ishigaki Island, where coexisting seaweeds grow densely in spring but minimally in summer. Abundant gastropods and their possible food sources were collected in spring and summer of 2013 and 2015, and their stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios were measured. Between the two seasons, each possible food source had similar isotopic values, but all the herbivorous gastropod species in summer were more enriched in 13C than the gastropod samples in spring. The mixing models in SIAR (Stable Isotope Analysis in R) showed that the total contribution rates of seaweeds, i.e. rhodophytes, phaeophytes and chlorophytes, for all herbivorous gastropod species decreased from spring to summer; in contrast, the contribution rate of seagrasses increased. Linear Mixed Models showed that the seasonal variation in δ13C of the herbivorous gastropods was larger than that of the possible food sources, adding further evidence to the seasonal change in food sources of the herbivorous gastropods. This seasonal change in food use appears to correspond to the change in seaweed biomass, suggesting that herbivorous gastropods flexibly change their diets depending on food availability.

Keywords

Herbivorous invertebratesseagrass bedsubtropical areaδ13Cδ15N
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 99 , Issue 5 , August 2019 , pp. 1119 - 1125
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2018 

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