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Chemical ecology of the nudibranch Glossodoris pallida: is the location of diet-derived metabolites important for defense?

C. Ávila,V. Paul

Published 1997 in Oceanographic Literature Review

ABSTRACT

The nudibranch mollusc Glossodoris pallida possesses the diet-derived terpenoid compounds scalaradial, desacetylscalaradial, and deoxoscalarin. In this study, w e determined whether the compounds were located strategically in the nudibranch body for defense against predators, a s well as whether they were present in mucus secreted by the nudibranch. Analysis of the distribution of metabolites in the different body parts indicated an accumulation of compounds in the border of the mantle (where the mantle dermal formations are located), a s well a s in the mucus secretion. Several experiments were conducted in order to establish a relationship between the location of the compounds and the chemical defense of the nudibranch, using al-tiflclal diets as well as animals with and without the borders of their mantles. The compounds from the mantle border deterred feeding by crabs (Leptodius spp.) and reef fishes when tested at their natural concentrations. When the mantle borders were removed from some nudibranchs, these animals were s~gnlflcantly more susceptible to predation by reef fishes than were animals with their mantle borders lntact While we were able to demonstrate that the diet-denved compounds in the mantle border function In the defense of the nudibranch, both in the laboratory against the crabs and in the field against natural assemblages of predatory reef fishes, our exper~ments with artificial diets did not indicate that the location of the compounds was critical for defense. Food cubes with pieces of mantle border tissue or extracts of mantle border tissue distributed uniformly throughout the cubes or along one border were equally effective at deterring feeding by reef fishes relative to control cubes. The location of diet-derived compounds in the mantle borders may also serve other functions in addition to defense.

PUBLICATION RECORD

  • Publication year

    1997

  • Venue

    Oceanographic Literature Review

  • Publication date

    1997-04-30

  • Fields of study

    Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science

  • Identifiers
    DOI 10.3354/MEPS150171
  • External record

    Open on Semantic Scholar

  • Source metadata

    Semantic Scholar

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