Effects of Dietary Protein and Carbohydrate Levels on Gonad Index, Composition, and Color in the Purple Sea Urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus

2018 ◽  
Vol 80 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana Maria Cuesta-Gomez ◽  
M. del Pilar Sánchez-Saavedra
Keyword(s):  
Sea Urchin ◽  
Dietary Protein ◽  
Strongylocentrotus Purpuratus ◽  
Gonad Index ◽  
Purple Sea Urchin ◽  
Carbohydrate Levels

scholarly journals Variation in purple sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus) morphological traits in relation to resource availability

PeerJ ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. e11352
Author(s):  
Joshua G. Smith ◽  
Sabrina C. Garcia
Keyword(s):  
Sea Urchin ◽  
Sea Urchins ◽  
Strongylocentrotus Purpuratus ◽  
Food Limitation ◽  
Gonad Index ◽  
Energy Allocation ◽  
Reproductive Capacity ◽  
Mosaic Landscape ◽  
Purple Sea Urchin ◽  
Resource Limited

Flexible resource investment is a risk sensitive reproductive strategy where individuals trade resources spent on reproduction for basic metabolic maintenance and survival. This study examined morphological variation in herbivorous sea urchin grazers across a mosaic landscape of macroalgae dominated habitats interspersed with patches of sea urchin barrens to determine whether sea urchins shift energy allocation in response to food limitation. Extensive underwater surveys of habitat attributes (e.g., sea urchin density, algae cover) were paired with detailed laboratory assays (e.g., sea urchin dissections) to determine how resource abundance affects energy allocation between reproductive capacity and body structure in the purple sea urchin, Strongylocentrotus purpuratus. We found that: (1) sea urchins had a more elongate jaw structure relative to body size in habitats void of macroalgae (i.e., barrens), (2) sea urchin reproductive capacity (i.e., gonad index) was lower in barrens and the barrens habitat was primarily comprised of encrusting algae, and (3) sea urchin jaw morphology (i.e., lantern index) and reproductive capacity (i.e., gonad index) were inversely related. These results suggest that sea urchins respond to macroalgae limited environments by shifting energy allocation between reproductive capacity and modifications of the foraging apparatus, which may explain the ability of sea urchins to acquire food in resource-limited environments.

Sublethal mechanisms of Pb and Zn toxicity to the purple sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus) during early development

2014 ◽  
Vol 146 ◽  
pp. 220-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret S. Tellis ◽  
Mariana M. Lauer ◽  
Sunita Nadella ◽  
Adalto Bianchini ◽  
Chris M. Wood
Keyword(s):  
Early Development ◽  
Sea Urchin ◽  
Strongylocentrotus Purpuratus ◽  
Zn Toxicity ◽  
Purple Sea Urchin

scholarly journals Effects of five southern California macroalgal diets on consumption, growth, and gonad weight, in the purple sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew C Foster ◽  
Jarrett E Byrnes ◽  
Daniel C Reed
Keyword(s):  
Sea Urchin ◽  
Sea Urchins ◽  
Strongylocentrotus Purpuratus ◽  
Macrocystis Pyrifera ◽  
Reproductive Capacity ◽  
Giant Kelp ◽  
Mixed Diet ◽  
Gonad Weight ◽  
Consumption Growth ◽  
Purple Sea Urchin

Consumer growth and reproductive capacity are direct functions of diet. Strongylocentrotid sea urchins, the dominant herbivores in California kelp forests, strongly prefer giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera), but are highly catholic in their ability to consume other species. The biomass of Macrocystis fluctuates greatly in space and time and the extent to which urchins can use alternate species of algae or a mixed diet of multiple algal species to maintain fitness when giant kelp is unavailable is unknown. We experimentally examined the effects of single and mixed species diets on consumption, growth and gonad weight in the purple sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus. Urchins were fed single species diets consisting of one of four common species of macroalgae (the kelps Macrocystis pyrifera and Pterygophora californica, and the red algae Chondracanthus corymbiferus and Rhodymenia californica (hereafter referred to by genus) or a mixed diet containing all four species ad libitum over a 13-week period in a controlled laboratory setting. Urchins fed Chondracanthus, Macrocystis and a mixed diet showed the highest growth (in terms of test diameter, wet weight and jaw length) and gonad weight while urchins fed Pterygophora and Rhodymenia showed the lowest. Urchins consumed their preferred food, Macrocystis at the highest rate when offered a mixture, but consumed Chondracanthus or Macrocystis at similar rates when the two algae were offered alone. The differences in urchin feeding behavior and growth observed between these diet types suggest the relative availability of the algae tested here could affect urchin populations and their interactions with the algal assemblage. The fact that the performance of urchins fed Chondracanthus was similar or higher than those fed the preferred Macrocystis suggests purple sea urchins could sustain growth and reproduction during times of low Macrocystis abundance as is common following large wave events.

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