Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD PeerJ
Résumé : International audience
Understanding the role of predators in food webs can be challenging in highly diverse predator/prey systems composed of small cryptic species. DNA based dietary analysis can supplement predator removal experiments and provide high resolution for prey identification. Here we use a metabarcoding approach to provide initial insights into the diet and functional role of coral-dwelling predatory fish feeding on small invertebrates. Fish were collected in Moorea (French Polynesia) where the BIOCODE project has generated DNA barcodes for numerous coral associated invertebrate species. Pyrosequencing data revealed a total of 292 Operational Taxonomic Units (OTU) in the gut contents of the arc-eye hawkfish (Paracirrhites arcatus), the flame hawkfish (Neocirrhites armatus) and the coral croucher (Caracanthus maculatus). One hundred forty-nine (51%) of them had species-level matches in reference libraries (>98% similarity) while 76 additional OTUs (26%) could be identified to higher taxonomic levels. Decapods that have a mutualistic relationship with Pocillopora and are typically dominant among coral branches, represent a minor contribution of the predators' diets. Instead, predators mainly consumed transient species including pelagic taxa such as copepods, chaetognaths and siphonophores suggesting non random feeding behavior. We also identified prey species known to have direct negative interactions with stony corals, such as Hapalocarcinus sp, a gall crab considered a coral parasite, as well as species of vermetid snails known for their deleterious effects on coral growth. Pocillopora DNA accounted for 20.8% and 20.1% of total number of sequences in the guts of the flame hawkfish and coral croucher but it was not detected in the guts of the arc-eye hawkfish. Comparison of diets among the three fishes demonstrates remarkable partitioning with nearly 80% of prey items consumed by only one predator. Overall, the taxonomic resolution provided by the metabarcoding approach highlights a highly complex interaction web and demonstrates that levels of trophic partitioning among coral reef fishes have likely been underestimated. Therefore, we strongly encourage further empirical approaches to dietary studies prior to making assumptions of trophic equivalency in food web reconstruction. How to cite this article Leray et al. (2015), Metabarcoding dietary analysis of coral dwelling predatory fish demonstrates the minor contribution of coral mutualists to their highly partitioned, generalist diet. PeerJ 3:e1047
ISSN: 2167-8359

Droits : http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
hal-01174184
https://hal-univ-perp.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01174184
https://hal-univ-perp.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01174184/document
https://hal-univ-perp.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01174184/file/peerj-1047.pdf
DOI : 10.7717/peerj.1047

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag
Résumé : International audience
Ecosystems are commonly affected by natural, episodic disturbances that can abruptly and drastically alter communities. Although it has been shown that resilient ecosystems can eventually recover to pre-disturbed states, the extent to which communities in early stages of recovery could be affected by multiple anthropogenic stressors is poorly understood. Pervasive and rising anthropogenic stressors in coastal marine systems that could interactively affect the recovery of these systems following natural disturbances include high sedimentation, nutrient enrichment, and overfishing. Using a 6-month field experiment, we examined the effects of all combinations of these three stressors on key functional groups in the benthic community growing on simulated, post-disturbance reef patches within a system recovering from large-scale natural disturbances (corallivorous seastar outbreak and cyclone). Our study revealed that sedimentation, nutrient enrichment, and overfishing (simulated using exclusion cages) interactively affected coral survival and algal growth, with taxon-specific effects at multiple scales. First, our treatments affected corals and algae differently, with sedimentation being more detrimental to macroalgal growth but less detrimental to coral (Porites rus) survival in caged plots, driving significant interactions between sedimentation and caging for both taxa. We also observed distinct responses between coral species and between algal functional groups, with the most extensive responses from algal turf biomass, for which sedimentation suppressed the synergistic (positive) combined effect of nutrient enrichment and caging. Our findings suggest that different combinations of ubiquitous anthropogenic stressors, related to either sea- or land-based activities, interactively influence community recovery from disturbance and may alter species compositions in the resulting community. Our findings further suggest that anthropogenic stressors could promote further degradation of coral reefs following natural disturbances by inhibiting recovery to coral-dominated states that provide vital ecosystem services to coastal populations worldwide.
ISSN: 0722-4028

hal-01430977
https://hal-univ-perp.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01430977
DOI : 10.1007/s00338-016-1489-x

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Royal Society of Chemistry
Résumé : International audience
Chemical mediation regulates behavioral interactions between species and thus affects population structure,community organization and ecosystem function. Among marine taxa that have developed chemicalmediation strategies, gastropods belong to a diverse group of molluscs found worldwide, including specieswith a coiled, reduced or absent shell. Most gastropods use natural products to mediate a wide range ofbehaviors such as defense, prey location or interactions with con- and hetero-geners. Their chemicallydefended diet, such as cyanobacteria, algae, sponges, bryozoans and tunicates, provides them witha considerable opportunity either as shelter from predators, or as a means to enhance their own chemicaldefense. In addition to improving their defenses, molluscs also use prey secondary metabolites in complexchemical communication including settlement induction, prey detection and feeding preferences. Theassimilation of prey secondary metabolites further provides the opportunity for interactions withconspecifics via diet-derived chemical cues or signals. This review intends to provide an overview on thesequestration, detoxification, and biotransformation of diet-derived natural products, as well as the role ofthese compounds as chemical mediators in gastropod-prey interactions.
ISSN: 0265-0568

hal-01563402
https://hal-univ-perp.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01563402
DOI : 10.1039/c6np00097e

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Public Library of Science
Résumé : International audience
Outbreaks of the corallivorous crown-of-thorns seastar Acanthaster planci (COTS) represent one of the greatest disturbances to coral reef ecosystems in the Indo-Pacific, affecting not only coral reefs but also the coastal communities which rely on their resources. While injection approaches are increasingly used in an attempt to control COTS densities, most of them display severe drawbacks including logistical challenges, high residual environmental impacts or low cost-effectiveness. We tested a new alternative control method based upon acidic injections of cheap, 100% natural products. We investigated the lethal doses, intra-and inter-specific disease transmission and immune responses of COTS when injected with fresh lime juice (extracted from local Citrus arantifolia) and white spirit vinegar. High COTS mortality was achieved with small volumes: 10–20 ml per seastar induced death in 89%/ 97% of injected specimens after an average 34.3 h/29.8 h for lime juice and vinegar respectively. Highest efficiency was reached for both solutions with double shots of (2 × 10 ml) in two different areas on the body: 100% mortality occurred within 12–24 h, which is similar or faster compared with other current injection methods. Multiple immune measures suggested that death was very likely caused by pH stress from the acidic solutions rather than a bacterial infection. Contagion to either conspecifics or a variety of other reef species was not observed, even at COTS densities 15 times higher than the highest naturally reported. 10 to 20 l lime juice/vinegar could kill up to a thousand COTS at a cost of less than 0.05 USD per specimen; no permits or special handling procedures are required. We conclude that injections of lime juice and vinegar offer great advantages when compared to current best practises and constitute a cheap and natural option for all reefs affected by COTS.
ISSN: 1932-6203

Droits : http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
hal-01208272
https://hal-univ-perp.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01208272
https://hal-univ-perp.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01208272/document
https://hal-univ-perp.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01208272/file/journal.pone.0137605.pdf
DOI : 10.1371/journal.pone.0137605

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD CRC Press
Résumé : International audience
Biology of damselfishes

hal-01384262
https://hal-univ-perp.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01384262

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier Science
Résumé : International audience
Some anthropogenic noise is now considered pollution, with evidence building that noise from human activities such as transportation, construction and exploration can impact behaviour and physiology in a broad range of taxa. However, relatively little research has considered the effects of repeated or chronic noise; extended exposures may result in habituation or sensitisation, and thus changes in response. We conducted a field-based experiment at Moorea Island to investigate how repeated exposure to playback of motorboat noise affected a coral reef fish (Dascyllus trimaculatus). We found that juvenile D. trimaculatus increased hiding behaviour during motorboat noise after two days of repeated exposure, but no longer did so after one and two weeks of exposure. We also found that naïve individuals responded to playback of motorboat noise with elevated ventilation rates, but that this response was diminished after one and two weeks of repeated exposure. We found no strong evidence that baseline blood cortisol levels, growth or body condition were affected by three weeks of repeated motorboat-noise playback. Our study reveals the importance of considering how tolerance levels may change over time, rather than simply extrapolating from results of short-term studies, if we are to make decisions about regulation and mitigation.
ISSN: 0013-9327

Droits : http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
hal-01357915
https://hal-univ-perp.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01357915
https://hal-univ-perp.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01357915/document
https://hal-univ-perp.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01357915/file/1-s2.0-S0269749116304468-main.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.envpol.2016.05.058

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
Conflict between mates, as well as conflict between parents and offspring are due to divergent evolutionary interests of the interacting individuals. Hormone systems provide genetically based proximate mechanisms for mediating phenotypic adaptation and maladaptation characteristic of evolutionary conflict between individuals. Testosterone (T) is among the most commonly studied hormones in evolutionary biology, and as such, its role in shaping sexually dimorphic behaviors and physiology is relatively well understood, but its role in evolutionary conflict is not as clear. In this review, we outline the genomic conflicts arising within the family unit, and incorporate multiple lines of evidence from the bank vole (Myodes glareolus) system to outline how T impacts traits associated with reproduction and survival, resulting in a sexually antagonistic genetic trade-off in fitness. A major prediction arising from this work is that lower T is favored in females, whereas the optimal T level in males fluctuates in relation to social and ecological factors. We additionally discuss future directions to further integrate endocrinology into the study of sexual and parent–offspring conflicts.
ISSN: 1540-7063

hal-01357902
https://hal-univ-perp.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01357902
DOI : 10.1093/icb/icw053

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD PeerJ
Résumé : International audience
Coral reefs are in decline across the globe as a result of overexploitation, pollution, disease and, more recently, climate change. The impacts of changes in coral cover on associated fish communities can be difficult to predict because of the uneven dependence of reef fish species on corals for food, shelter or the three-dimensional structure they provide. We compared live coral cover, reef fish community metrics, and their associations in two surveys of the lagoon of the remote atoll of Mataiva (French Polynesia) carried out 31 years apart. In contrast to the general pattern of decreasing coral cover reported for many parts of the Indo-Pacific region, live coral cover increased 6–7 fold at Mataiva between 1981 and 2012, and fish density nearly doubled. The stable overall reef fish species richness belied a significant shift in community structure. There was little overlap in community composition across years, and fish assemblages in 2012 were more homogeneous in composition than they were in 1981. Changes in species abundance were not clearly related to species-specific reliance on corals. The strong positive relationships between live coral cover and fish diversity and abundance noted in 1981, when coral cover rarely exceeded 10%, were no longer present in 2012, when coral cover rarely fell below this value. The most parsimonious explanation for these contrasting relationships is that, over the combined range of coral cover observed in the 1981 and 2012 snapshots, there is a rapidly asymptotic relationship between coral and fish. Our results, and other data from the south and west Pacific, suggest that fish diversity and abundance might accumulate rapidly up to a threshold of approximately 10% live coral cover. Such a relationship would have implications for our expectations of resistance and recovery of reef fish communities facing an increasingly severe regime of coral reef disturbances.
ISSN: 2167-8359

Droits : http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
hal-01135589
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01135589
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01135589/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01135589/file/2015_02_26_more_coral_more_fish.pdf
DOI : 10.7717/peerj.745