| Contributors | Affiliation | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Phillips, Nicole | Victoria University of Wellington | Principal Investigator, Contact |
| Biddle, Mathew | Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI BCO-DMO) | BCO-DMO Data Manager |
These data are from an experiment that tests the nutritional strategies of Ceraesignum (Dendropoma) maximum larvae. For additional datasets see related files.
Related Datasets:
In this experiment, larvae were placed into feeding treatments with different types of phytoplankton to determine larval nutritional strategies.
Larvae hatched on Sept 24, 2009 and were distributed into tubs on 500mL filtered sea water (FSW). Three larval feeding treatments with different species of phytoplankton, all at 10 x 104 cells mL-1: Isochrysis galbana (‘‘Iso’’ treatment), Dunaliella tertiolecta (‘‘Dun’’ treatment), a 1:1 ratio of I. galbana and D. tertiolecta (‘‘Mixed’’ treatment), plus an Unfed treatment in which larvae were raised in FSW. Investigators used a hemocytometer to count algal cells and calculate densities of phytoplankton stocks and amount of stock to add to containers for each treatment. At 10- post-hatch, larvae were placed in settlement challenges. These were done in plastic containers with 200 mL FSW and two small fragments (*2–3 cm diam.) of coral rubble. Before use in settlement challenges, the coral rubble fragments were rinsed in freshwater and lightly scrubbed to remove any associated macrofauna. Each piece of rubble had 25–50% cover of live coralline algae, but no apparent other live or boring organisms associated with them. Coral rubble was chosed because a pilot experiment had shown that after 24 h of exposure to coral rubble, fed, swimming larvae were capable of completely losing or reabsorbing the velum, and subsequently actively crawling on the substratum. The settlement challenge on day 10 consisted of pooling three larvae from each replicate container within each food treatment and redistributing them into the settlement challenge containers. Thus, nine larvae were added to each of three replicate containers for the settlement challenge (N = 27 larvae total from each food treatment). Larvae were examined every day for 3 days for loss of velum or complete metamorphosis. Complete metamorphosis was evident by several obvious morphological changes: the previously long and active foot was lost, the margin of the protoconch aperture became light pink, and early growth of the juvenile tube. In most cases at metamorphosis, the protoconch became cemented to the substratum (either the coral rubble or the bottom of the container), but in others the shell remained unattached. Investigators left swimming larvae in the containers and removed dead larvae. The water in the settlement challenge containers was changed each day.
BCO-DMO Processing:
| File |
|---|
Phillips_2011_Expt1_SettlementChallenge10.csv (Comma Separated Values (.csv), 1.28 KB) MD5:6058fd2733c046a3e0dc10a11506cfaa Primary data file for dataset ID 725335 |
| Parameter | Description | Units |
| Larval_food_treatment | type of food given to larvae (Isochrysis galbana = Iso; Dunaliella tertiolecta = Dun; 1:1 ratio of Iso and Dun = Mixed) | unitless |
| Replicate_settlement_container | replicate tub | unitless |
| initial_number_larvae | initial number of larvae | unitless |
| day_1_number_live_larvae_with_velum | larvae with velum day 1 after start of challenge | unitless |
| day_1_number_dead | number of dead larvae on day 1 after start of challenge | unitless |
| day_1_number_missing | number of larvae missing on day 1 after start of challenge | unitless |
| day_1_number_larvae_without_velum | number of larvae without velum on day 1 after start of challenge | unitless |
| day_1_number_metamorphosed | number of larve that metamorphosized on day 1 after start of challenge | unitless |
| day_2_number_live_larvae_with_velum | number of live larvae with velum day 2 after start of challenge | unitless |
| day_2_number_dead | number of dead larvae on day 2 after start of challenge | unitless |
| day_2_number_missing | number of larvae missing on day 2 after start of challenge | unitless |
| day_2_number_larvae_without_velum | number of larvae without velum on day 2 after start of challenge | unitless |
| day_2_number_metamorphosed | number of larve that metamorphosized on day 2 after start of challenge | unitless |
| day_3_number_live_larvae_with_velum | number of live larvae with velum day 3 after start of challenge | unitless |
| day_3_number_dead | number of dead larvae on day 3 after start of challenge | unitless |
| day_3_number_missing | number of larvae missing on day 3 after start of challenge | unitless |
| day_3_number_larvae_without_velum | number of larvae without velum on day 3 after start of challenge | unitless |
| day_3_number_metamorphosed | number of larve that metamorphosized on day 3 after start of challenge | unitless |
| end_number_live_larvae_left_with_velum | number of live larvae end of challenge | unitless |
| end_number_dead | number of dead larvae end of challenge | unitless |
| end_number_missing | number of larvae missing end of challege | unitless |
| end_number_larvae_left_without_velum | number of larvae without velum end of challenge | unitless |
| end_number_metamorphosed | number of larve that metamorphosized end of challenge | unitless |
| end_percent_without_velum_plus_metamorphosed | Percent of larvae without velum and that metamorphosized at end of experiment | unitless (percent) |
| Dataset-specific Instrument Name | hemocytometer |
| Generic Instrument Name | Hemocytometer |
| Dataset-specific Description | Investigators used a hemocytometer to count algal cells and calculate densities of phytoplankton stocks and amount of stock to add to containers for each treatment. |
| Generic Instrument Description | A hemocytometer is a small glass chamber, resembling a thick microscope slide, used for determining the number of cells per unit volume of a suspension. Originally used for performing blood cell counts, a hemocytometer can be used to count a variety of cell types in the laboratory. Also spelled as "haemocytometer". Description from:
http://hlsweb.dmu.ac.uk/ahs/elearning/RITA/Haem1/Haem1.html. |
| Website | |
| Platform | Osenberg et al Moorea |
| Start Date | 2003-05-19 |
| End Date | 2015-07-12 |
Description from NSF abstract:
Ecological surprises are most likely to be manifest in diverse communities where many interactions remain uninvestigated. Coral reefs harbor much of the world's biodiversity, and recent studies by the investigators suggest that one overlooked, but potentially important, biological interaction involves vermetid gastropods. Vermetid gastropods are nonmobile, tube-building snails that feed via an extensive mucus net. Vermetids reduce coral growth by up to 80%, and coral survival by as much as 60%. Because effects vary among coral taxa, vermetids may substantially alter the structure of coral communities as well as the community of fishes and invertebrates that inhabit the coral reef.
The investigators will conduct a suite of experimental and observational studies that: 1) quantify the effects of four species of vermetids across coral species to assess if species effects and responses are concordant or idiosyncratic; 2) use meta-analysis to compare effects of vermetids relative to other coral stressors and determine the factors that influence variation in coral responses; 3) determine the role of coral commensals that inhabit the branching coral, Pocillopora, and evaluate how the development of the commensal assemblage modifies the deleterious effects of vermetids; 4) determine how vermetid mucus nets affect the local environment of corals and evaluate several hypotheses about proposed mechanisms; and 5) assess the long-term implications of vermetids on coral communities and the fishes and invertebrates that depend on the coral.
Note: The Principal Investigator, Dr. Craig W. Osenberg, was at the University of Florida at the time the NSF award was granted. Dr. Osenberg moved to the University of Georgia during the summer of 2014 (current contact information).
| Funding Source | Award |
|---|---|
| NSF Division of Ocean Sciences (NSF OCE) |