Diet and its effect on oxygen uptake in the sea hare Aplysia

doi:10.1016/0022-0981(88)90143-8

Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology

Volume 114, Issues 2–3, 28 January 1988, Pages 275-287

https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-0981(88)90143-8 Get rights and content

Abstract

Effects of dietary quality on oxygen consumption (V_O₂) were studied in Hawaiian populations of the sea hares Aplysia dactylomela Rang and A. Juliana Quoy and Gaimard feeding on two seaweeds, Acanthophora spicifera (Vahl) Børgesen and Ulva reticulata Forsskål. Neither diet had significant effect on V_O₂ despite the fact that growth rates were more than three times greater on the Acanthophora diet than on the Ulva diet. Ration level of Acanthophora had a significant effect on V_O₂ in Aplysia with rates decreasing as ration level decreased. Lowest V_O₂ measurements were obtained from starved animals and those eating a 20% ration of seaweeds. Food presentation and feeding raised V_O₂ in Aplysia to 150–200% of baseline levels. Specific dynamic action (SDA) effects caused V_O₂ to increase up to 300% of baseline levels, but the effects were manifested for < 14 h. This was considerably less than expected based on other published values for marine invertebrates.

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Energy transformation by sea hares (Aplysia) in areas of coral rubble

Cited by (16)

Food web structure prior to and following construction of artificial reefs, based on stable isotope analysis
2020, Regional Studies in Marine Science
Citation Excerpt :
Sea hares are a mollusk with considerable medical and pharmaceutical value (Ryu et al., 2017). In previous studies, it has usually been indicated that sea hares feed on macroalgae (Stallard and Faulkner, 1974; Carefoot, 1988). However, in our study the trophic level of O. ovum nearly reached three, meaning this species was not just feeding on algae but was also a saprophagy consumer, or at least omnivorous.
The food web structure prior to and following the construction of artificial reefs (ARs) in the sea area around Xiaoheishan Island was established and a comparative study was conducted using stable isotopes. A total of 49 common marine animal samples were collected and used to construct the food web. Four types of food sources were detected in this area. Following construction of the reefs, the total contribution rates of Ulva pertusa and particulate organic matter decreased by 1.4% and 1%, respectively, whereas Zostera marina/Sargassum thunbergii and sediment increased by 1.5% and 0.6%, respectively. Within two years following construction, most of the omnivorous and carnivorous consumers were getting more focused. The average contribution rates of food sources of seven species changed by greater than 10%. Within two years following construction, most of the fish trophic levels decreased and most of the invertebrate trophic levels increased.
A comparison of hatchery-rearing in exercise to wild animal physiology and reflex behavior in Aplysia californica
2018, Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology -Part A : Molecular and Integrative Physiology
Citation Excerpt :
The National Resource for Aplysia at the University of Miami in Miami, Florida, USA, has >25 years' experience growing this opisthobranch species for the scientific community (Capo et al., 2002, 2003; Stommes et al., 2005). The normal habitat for this species is the rocky intertidal of the North American Pacific coast, where their red algal food is abundant (Audesirk, 1979; Carefoot, 1987). Wave energy in this environment likely promotes isometric contractions, particularly in foot muscle of Aplysia, during adherence to the rock substrate.
Aplysia californica was hatchery-reared in two turbulence protocols intended to imitate the intermittent turbulence of the native habitat and to promote development of the foot muscle from the exercise of adhering to the substrate. Hatchery-reared animals in turbulence regimes were compared to siblings reared in quiet water, and to wild animals, using noninvasive assessments of the development of the foot muscle. The objective was to learn if the turbulence-reared phenotype mimicked laboratory-targeted aspects of the wild phenotype, that is, reflex behavior, swim tunnel performance, and resting oxygen consumption (MO₂). No group exhibited different MO₂. MO₂ values for all of the compared groups of animals followed the power law, with an exponent of 0.69, consistent with this relationship throughout the animal kingdom. Turbulence-induced exercise did not affect the righting reflex or the tail withdrawal reflex, standard behavioral tests that involve the foot muscle, compared to quiet water-reared siblings. Wild individuals had significantly shorter time-to-right than all hatchery reared animals, however, wild animals did not perform better in flume tests. That turbulence-reared hatchery- or wild animals lacked superior flume performance suggests that this species may shelter from intertidal wave energy to remain near its optimal feeding areas.
Relationship between specific dynamic action and protein deposition in calanoid copepods
2000, Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology
The link between specific dynamic action (SDA) and protein deposition was investigated in copepodites stage V of two calanoid copepod species, the neritic Acartia tonsa and the oceanic Calanus finmarchicus. This was done by measuring respiration before, during, and after a specific feeding period and measuring the incorporation of carbon into proteins. These were also measured on individuals incubated with cycloheximide, an antibiotic that inhibits protein synthesis. The cycloheximide treatment significantly diminished the magnitude of SDA in both A. tonsa and C. finmarchicus, and inhibited carbon incorporation into protein in both species. This provides evidence that the rate at which protein deposition takes place greatly affects the magnitude of SDA. The specific respiration rates of both starving and feeding copepods were generally higher in A. tonsa than in C. finmarchicus. This influenced SDA, the magnitude of SDA normalised to an 8 h feeding period being threefold higher in A. tonsa (78.7±25.7 nlO₂ μgC⁻¹) than in C. finmarchicus (27.5±11.6 nlO₂ μgC⁻¹). This difference may arise due to differences in energy allocation in the organisms of the copepodite V stage of the two species. In this stage C. finmarchicus deposits large quantities of storage lipids, predominately wax esters, whereas A. tonsa deposits proteins during somatic growth.
Lifetime energy budget in the sea hare Aplysia oculifera
1996, Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology - A Physiology
We studied energy budget and resource allocation through the entire postmetamorphic life span, under controlled laboratory conditions, in the sea hare Aplysia oculifera from the Red Sea. Growth of sea hares was according to the Gompertz equation: Body live mass (BLM)t = 105 exp[− exp{−0.053(t − 43.04)}. Maximum postmetamorphic life span was 162 days. Sea hares began to spawn at 8 g BLM. Egg production (Pr) was related to BLM by the equation Pr(egg live mass, g · d⁻¹ · ind⁻¹) = 0.0048(BLM)^1.32. Oxygen consumption rates of sea hares at 24 ± 0.5°C were related to BLM by the equation V̇_O₂(ml · h⁻¹ · ind⁻¹) = 0.111(BLM)^0.78. Food consumption (C) and feces production (F) were related to BLM by the equations C(g dry mass · d⁻¹ · ind⁻¹) = 0.063(BLM)^0.84 and F(g dry mass · d⁻¹ · ind⁻¹) = 0.047(BLM)^0.44, respectively. The results were transformed to energetic values, and energy budget and resource allocation of the sea hares were calculated. A. oculifera invested 8–16% of the absorbed energy in metabolism (respiration). At BLM < 8 g, all the remaining energy was used for growth. From 8 g BLM on, sea hares began to reproduce and the energy allocated for reproduction increased with BLM, while the energy allocated for growth decreased. Growth stopped at mean BLM of 105 g. Comparison of the results with field data suggest high potential productivity that usually is not utilized in the field.
Effect of starvation on energy reserves and metabolism in the Northern abalone, Haliotis kamtschatkana
1993, Aquaculture
The effects of starvation on levels of tissue glycogen, blood glucose, and oxygen consumption, as well as on condition index and meat palatability were investigated in the Northern abalone, Haliotis kamtschatkana. Glycogen reserves were depleted within 6 days of starvation in the digestive gland and after 27 days of starvation in the foot muscle, but were spared, at least in relative concentration, in the gonad. Blood glucose titre dropped to about half of the normal (control) level of 23–27 μg·ml⁻¹ by 6 days of starvation. Oxygen consumption appeared to be maintained at normal, or even slightly enhanced, levels during the starvation period, and feeding of starved animals after 3.5 weeks resulted in a quick return to normal rates. Change in condition index was insignificant over the 27-day period. Finally, meat quality was unaffected over 27 days of starvation, as appraised by a taste-testing panel. It is concluded that 27 days of starvation led to no debilitating illness or excessive weight loss, nor to loss in meat quality in the abalone.
Specific dynamic action demonstrated in the herbivorous marine periwinkles, LIttorina littorea L. and Littorina obtusata L. (Mollusca, Gastropoda)
1993, Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology -- Part A: Physiology
- 1.
  1. Respiration rates of starved periwinkles, Liltorina littorea and Littorina obtusata, increased by 40–60% when fed their preferred algal food for 1 hr, or after having been exposed for the same period to an aqueous extract of the alga.
- 2.
  2. The stimulus causing the rise in metabolic rate by algal extracts is therefore thought to be chemosensory in nature, and possibly composed primarily of dissolved free amino acids.
- 3.
  3. The respiration rates of L. littorea responded only to the green alga Enteromorpha intestinalis while L. obtusata demonstrated an increase in respiration rates when fed the ubiquitous brown alga, Ascophyllum nodosum, and to a lesser degree to Enteromorpha.
- 4.
  4. These results compare very well to postprandial increases in oxygen consumption demonstrated in vertebrates and marine bivalves where the components of specific dynamic action (SDA) are thought to be chiefly biosynthetic costs of digestion and assimilation.

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Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology

Abstract

References (25)

Rates of oxygen consumption by Thais (Nucella) lapillus (L.)

J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol.

Feeding and growth in Clione limacina (Phipps), a pteropod mollusc. II. Assimilation, metabolism, and growth efficiency

J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol.

Apparent specific dynamic action in the harp seal (Phoca groenlandica)

Comp. Biochem. Physiol.

Respiration and nitrogen excretion of Polinices alderi (Forbes) and Polinices catena (Da Costa) (Gastropoda: Naticidae)

J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol.

The effects of starvation on the respiration and major nutrient stores of Thais lamellosa

Comp. Biochem. Physiol.

An apparent specifie dynamic action in Mytilus edulis L

J. Mar. Biol. Assoc. U.K.

On the oxygen consumption of Ancylidae (Gastropoda) from an ecological point of view

Hydrobiologia

The respiration of freshwater snails

J. Exp. Biol.

Observations on the respiration of Australorbis glabratus and some other aquatic snails

Biol. Bull. (Woods Hole, Mass.)

Some observations on locomotory strategies and their metabolic effects in two species of freshwater gastropods, Ancylus fluviatilis Müll. and Planorbis contortus Linn

Oecologia (Berlin)

Studies on a sublittoral population of Aplysiapuncata

J. Mar. Biol. Assoc. U.K.

Energy transformation by sea hares (Aplysia) in areas of coral rubble

Cited by (16)

Food web structure prior to and following construction of artificial reefs, based on stable isotope analysis

A comparison of hatchery-rearing in exercise to wild animal physiology and reflex behavior in Aplysia californica

Relationship between specific dynamic action and protein deposition in calanoid copepods

Lifetime energy budget in the sea hare Aplysia oculifera

Effect of starvation on energy reserves and metabolism in the Northern abalone, Haliotis kamtschatkana

Specific dynamic action demonstrated in the herbivorous marine periwinkles, LIttorina littorea L. and Littorina obtusata L. (Mollusca, Gastropoda)