Spatial distribution and nutritional requirements of the endosymbiont-bearing bivalve Loripes lacteus (sensu Poli, 1791) in a Mediterranean Nanozostera noltii (Hornemann) meadow

Type Article
Date 2013-02
Language English
Author(s) Rossi Francesca1, Colao Elodie1, Jose Martinez Maria3, Klein Judith C.1, 4, Carcaillet Frederique1, Callier MyriamORCID1, 2, de Wit Rutger1, Caro Audrey1
Affiliation(s) 1 : Univ Montpellier I, Univ Montpellier 2, IFREMER, IRD,CNRS,UMR 5119, F-34095 Montpellier, France.
2 : IFREMER, Dept Ressources Biol & Environm, UMR 5119, Stn Palavas, F-34250 Palavas Les Flots, France.
3 : Univ Pablo de Olavide, Zool Lab, Seville 41013, Spain.
4 : Leibniz Ctr Trop Marine Ecol, D-28359 Bremen, Germany.
Source Journal Of Experimental Marine Biology And Ecology (0022-0981) (Elsevier Science Bv), 2013-02 , Vol. 440 , P. 108-115
DOI 10.1016/j.jembe.2012.12.010
WOS© Times Cited 15
Keyword(s) Bivalve, Food web, Mediterranean, Seagrass, Stable isotopes, Symbiosis
Abstract Sulphur-oxidising endosymbiont-bearing bivalves often inhabit seagrass meadows, where they can control sulphide levels and variably contribute to carbon cycling, by feeding on endosymbiotic bacteria and/or on particulate organic matter from the water column. The patterns of variability in their feeding mode and their spatial distribution within the seagrass meadows are however poorly studied. Seagrass beds form naturally patchy habitats with seagrass-sand edges that may have variable effects on different organisms. The present study aims at understanding differences in feeding mode and abundance of the endosymbiont-bearing bivalve Loripes lacteus (sensu Poli, 1791) as well as the physiological conditions of its endosymbiotic populations between edge and inner portion of meadows of the eelgrass Nanozostera noltii (Hornemann). In July 2010, Loripes specimens were sampled in 4 eelgrass patches at 2 different locations in the Thau lagoon, South of France. There was a clear negative edge effect on the abundance of small individuals of Loripes, while large individuals were homogeneously distributed between edge and inner part of the meadow. Although Loripes isotopic signatures (δ13C and δ15N) were always closer to those of its symbiotic bacteria than to those of suspension-feeding bivalves, eelgrass edge enhanced mixotrophic behaviour of small animals, which assimilated less bacterial carbon and nitrogen at the edge than in the inner part of the eelgrass meadow. No differences related to eelgrass edges were instead found for the bacterial populations harboured by Loripes. Rather, flow cytometry revealed large variability at small spatial scales. Although bacteria were always important for the nutrition of Loripes, these findings showed that seagrass edges may contribute to regulate feeding mode and population structure of Loripes, which may have implications for seagrass functioning.
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Rossi Francesca, Colao Elodie, Jose Martinez Maria, Klein Judith C., Carcaillet Frederique, Callier Myriam, de Wit Rutger, Caro Audrey (2013). Spatial distribution and nutritional requirements of the endosymbiont-bearing bivalve Loripes lacteus (sensu Poli, 1791) in a Mediterranean Nanozostera noltii (Hornemann) meadow. Journal Of Experimental Marine Biology And Ecology, 440, 108-115. Publisher's official version : https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2012.12.010 , Open Access version : https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00138/24911/