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Activity patterns and predatory behavior of an intertidal nemertean from rocky shores: Prosorhochmus nelsoni (Hoplonemertea) from the Southeast Pacific

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Abstract

Understanding the impact of environmental stressors on predator activity is a prerequisite to understanding the underlying mechanisms shaping community structure. The nemertean Prosorhochmus nelsoni is a common predator in the mid-intertidal zone on rocky shores along the Chilean coast, where it can reach very high abundances (up to 260 ind m−2) in algal turfs, algal crusts, barnacle crusts, and mixed substrata. Tidal and diurnal scans revealed that the activity of P. nelsoni is primarily restricted to night and early-morning low tides and is relatively low when air temperatures are high. On average, larger worms crawled faster than smaller worms, with their maximum velocity being influenced by substratum type. Their estimated rate of predation is 0.092 prey items nemertean−1 day−1, just below the laboratory rate of ~0.2 amphipods nemertean−1 day−1 previously estimated for this species. P. nelsoni consumes a diverse spectrum of prey items (i.e., amphipods, isopods, decapods, barnacles, and dipterans) and is possibly exerting a significant influence on its prey populations. We suggest that the opportunistic predatory behavior of this intertidal predator is caused by the trade-off between immediate persistence (e.g., avoidance of desiccation) and long-term survival through successful foraging.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Bernardo Broitman (Project FONDECYT 1090488) for the temperature data. We thank James Vonesh for his kind assistance in analyzing the nemertean velocity and size data sets. We also thank Ulyces Urtubia for his help during the first days of field work. The quality of this manuscript was greatly improved by two anonymous reviewers. SA Caplins and JM Turbeville thank the faculty and staff at the Universidad Católica del Norte in Coquimbo, Chile, for their hospitality. S Caplins was supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under Grant No. (DGE-1147383) while working on this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, 23284, USA

    Serena Caplins & J. M. Turbeville

  2. Facultad Ciencias del Mar, Universidad Católica del Norte, Larrondo 1281, Coquimbo, Chile

    Miguel Angel Penna-Diaz, Erick Godoy & Martin Thiel

  3. Centro de Estudios Avancados en Zonas Aridas, CEAZA, Coquimbo, Chile

    Nelson Valdivia & Martin Thiel

  4. Instituto de Ciencias Marinas y Limnológicas, Universidad Austral de Chile, Campus Isla Teja, Valdivia, Chile

    Nelson Valdivia

Authors
  1. Serena Caplins
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  2. Miguel Angel Penna-Diaz
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  3. Erick Godoy
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  4. Nelson Valdivia
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  5. J. M. Turbeville
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  6. Martin Thiel
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Correspondence to Serena Caplins.

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Communicated by F. Bulleri.

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Caplins, S., Penna-Diaz, M.A., Godoy, E. et al. Activity patterns and predatory behavior of an intertidal nemertean from rocky shores: Prosorhochmus nelsoni (Hoplonemertea) from the Southeast Pacific. Mar Biol 159, 1363–1374 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-012-1916-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-012-1916-7

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