Symbiotic relationship between the carapid fish Onuxodon fowleri (Ophidiiformes: Carapidae) and the pearl oyster Pinctada margaritifera (Mollusca: Bivalvia: Pteriidae)
Colleye, O.; Kéver, L.; Lepoint, G.; Lecchini, D.; Parmentier, E. (2018). Symbiotic relationship between the carapid fish Onuxodon fowleri (Ophidiiformes: Carapidae) and the pearl oyster Pinctada margaritifera (Mollusca: Bivalvia: Pteriidae). Sci. Mar. (Barc.) 82(1): 35-41. https://dx.doi.org/10.3989/scimar.04627.04A
In: Scientia Marina (Barcelona). Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. Institut de Ciènces del Mar: Barcelona. ISSN 0214-8358; e-ISSN 1886-8134, meer
At Makemo Atoll (French Polynesia), the carapid fish Onuxodon fowleri lives in symbiosis with the black-lip pearl oyster Pinctada margaritifera. Although the symbiont seems to live inside its host bivalve by using it as a shelter, additional data are still needed to better understand the exact nature of this association. For this purpose, we implemented an approach using stable isotope ratios of carbon (13C/12C) and nitrogen (15N/14N). The δ13C and δ15N values were measured in tissues of the pearl oyster (gonads, gills, mantle and muscles), white muscle tissue from the fish and other food sources. This stable isotope approach was also complemented by the analysis of stomach contents in the carapid fish. Overall, the isotopic compositions measured in the present study support a commensal relationship between O. fowleri and P. margaritifera. In addition, our isotopic data bring new information about another guest living inside P. margaritifera, namely the palaemonid shrimp Conchodytes meleagrinae. Based on the δ13C and δ15N values, it appears that the shrimp might feed on the bivalve gonads.
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