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Selection of habitat by a marine amphipod
Author(s) -
Gestoso Ignacio,
Olabarria Celia,
Troncoso Jesús S.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
marine ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.668
H-Index - 58
eISSN - 1439-0485
pISSN - 0173-9565
DOI - 10.1111/maec.12068
Subject(s) - intertidal zone , rocky shore , amphipoda , habitat , ecology , biology , invertebrate , tide pool , marine invertebrates , range (aeronautics) , fucus vesiculosus , generalist and specialist species , intertidal ecology , algae , crustacean , materials science , composite material
Marine algae are known to provide habitats for a wide range of marine organisms. Populations of marine epiphytal invertebrates are generalists and are less adapted to live in only one macroalga species. However, there are some examples of local adaptation and, in particular, amphipods have shown strong host specificity. Amphitholina cuniculus , an amphipod with an alga‐burrowing habit, has been mainly observed in B ifurcaria bifurcata mats on the intertidal rocky shores of the southern region of the Galician coast ( NW Spain; 42º11.27′ N, 8º48.25′ W). We designed a laboratory experiment conducted in June 2009 to analyse the association between the amphipod and the macroalga. In particular, we hypothesised that (i) this species would exhibit different behaviour during the day and at night, and (ii) adults of A . cuniculus would prefer B . bifurcata as habitat rather than F ucus vesiculosus or S argassum muticum . Results supported the hypothesis that adults of A. cuniculus preferred B . bifurcata , although such preferences did not show the day/night variability predicted. This amphipod might be considered a specialist species, at least on rocky intertidal shores along the Galician coast.