Trophic ecology of the chiton Acanthopleura echinata on Chilean rocky shores

Polyplacophorans are common herbivores on rocky shores, but basic aspects of their ecology remain scarcely studied and their role within communities could be more complex than previously considered. Such is the case of Acanthopleura echinata (Barnes), one of the largest and most conspicuous chitons...

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Autores principales:	CAMUS,PATRICIO A, NAVARRETE,ARTURO H, SANHUEZA,ÁLVARO G, OPAZO,L. FELIPE
Lenguaje:	English
Publicado:	Sociedad de Biología de Chile 2012
Materias:	body size intertidal niche breadth omnivory upwelling
Acceso en línea:	http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0716-078X2012000100010
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spelling	oai:scielo:S0716-078X20120001000102012-06-13Trophic ecology of the chiton Acanthopleura echinata on Chilean rocky shoresCAMUS,PATRICIO ANAVARRETE,ARTURO HSANHUEZA,ÁLVARO GOPAZO,L. FELIPE body size intertidal niche breadth omnivory upwelling Polyplacophorans are common herbivores on rocky shores, but basic aspects of their ecology remain scarcely studied and their role within communities could be more complex than previously considered. Such is the case of Acanthopleura echinata (Barnes), one of the largest and most conspicuous chitons in the world, and at the same time, one of the least known intertidal species in the southeastern Pacific. To improve the basic ecological knowledge of this potentially important intertidal consumer, we studied the diet of A. echinata and its variation among sites of varying levels of coastal upwelling spread over 1000 km along the coast of northern Chile. A seasonal evaluation of diet, body size distribution and density at sites expected to vary in overall nutrient loadings, benthic algal productivity and sea surface temperature, allowed us to examine plasticity in Acantholeura diet and body size. Overall, A. echinata consumed 85 items of algae (64.7 %, mainly fleshy and calcified encrusting thalli) and invertebrates (35.3 %, mainly barnacles). Diet was always dominated by encrusting corallines, although the proportion of algae increased with body size suggesting an ontogenetic variation in feeding habits. Although the number and occurrence frequency of dietary items varied significantly in time and space, there were no consistent seasonal patterns and the dominant items in the diet remained the same at all places. The density of A. echinata showed no significant spatial variation, but its body size and diet breadth correlated positively among sites and both tended to increase with latitude. Our results show that A. echinata is a generalist, polyphagous consumer with a high potential for affecting the space-occupancy dynamics in the intertidal system, and also that among site variation in diet bears no simple relationship with variation in sea surface temperature and upwelling intensity.info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessSociedad de Biología de ChileRevista chilena de historia natural v.85 n.1 20122012-03-01text/htmlhttp://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0716-078X2012000100010en10.4067/S0716-078X2012000100010
institution	Scielo Chile
collection	Scielo Chile
language	English
topic	body size intertidal niche breadth omnivory upwelling
spellingShingle	body size intertidal niche breadth omnivory upwelling CAMUS,PATRICIO A NAVARRETE,ARTURO H SANHUEZA,ÁLVARO G OPAZO,L. FELIPE Trophic ecology of the chiton Acanthopleura echinata on Chilean rocky shores
description	Polyplacophorans are common herbivores on rocky shores, but basic aspects of their ecology remain scarcely studied and their role within communities could be more complex than previously considered. Such is the case of Acanthopleura echinata (Barnes), one of the largest and most conspicuous chitons in the world, and at the same time, one of the least known intertidal species in the southeastern Pacific. To improve the basic ecological knowledge of this potentially important intertidal consumer, we studied the diet of A. echinata and its variation among sites of varying levels of coastal upwelling spread over 1000 km along the coast of northern Chile. A seasonal evaluation of diet, body size distribution and density at sites expected to vary in overall nutrient loadings, benthic algal productivity and sea surface temperature, allowed us to examine plasticity in Acantholeura diet and body size. Overall, A. echinata consumed 85 items of algae (64.7 %, mainly fleshy and calcified encrusting thalli) and invertebrates (35.3 %, mainly barnacles). Diet was always dominated by encrusting corallines, although the proportion of algae increased with body size suggesting an ontogenetic variation in feeding habits. Although the number and occurrence frequency of dietary items varied significantly in time and space, there were no consistent seasonal patterns and the dominant items in the diet remained the same at all places. The density of A. echinata showed no significant spatial variation, but its body size and diet breadth correlated positively among sites and both tended to increase with latitude. Our results show that A. echinata is a generalist, polyphagous consumer with a high potential for affecting the space-occupancy dynamics in the intertidal system, and also that among site variation in diet bears no simple relationship with variation in sea surface temperature and upwelling intensity.
author	CAMUS,PATRICIO A NAVARRETE,ARTURO H SANHUEZA,ÁLVARO G OPAZO,L. FELIPE
author_facet	CAMUS,PATRICIO A NAVARRETE,ARTURO H SANHUEZA,ÁLVARO G OPAZO,L. FELIPE
author_sort	CAMUS,PATRICIO A
title	Trophic ecology of the chiton Acanthopleura echinata on Chilean rocky shores
title_short	Trophic ecology of the chiton Acanthopleura echinata on Chilean rocky shores
title_full	Trophic ecology of the chiton Acanthopleura echinata on Chilean rocky shores
title_fullStr	Trophic ecology of the chiton Acanthopleura echinata on Chilean rocky shores
title_full_unstemmed	Trophic ecology of the chiton Acanthopleura echinata on Chilean rocky shores
title_sort	trophic ecology of the chiton acanthopleura echinata on chilean rocky shores
publisher	Sociedad de Biología de Chile
publishDate	2012
url	http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0716-078X2012000100010
work_keys_str_mv	AT camuspatricioa trophicecologyofthechitonacanthopleuraechinataonchileanrockyshores AT navarretearturoh trophicecologyofthechitonacanthopleuraechinataonchileanrockyshores AT sanhuezaalvarog trophicecologyofthechitonacanthopleuraechinataonchileanrockyshores AT opazolfelipe trophicecologyofthechitonacanthopleuraechinataonchileanrockyshores
_version_	1718439663570518016

Trophic ecology of the chiton Acanthopleura echinata on Chilean rocky shores

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