Shift of Feeding Mode in an Epizoic Stalked Barnacle Inducing Gall Formation of Host Sea Urchin.

ABSTRACT: Among diverse stalked barnacles, Rugilepas pearsei (Thoracica: Cirripedia: Arthropoda) is a rare unique species that is associated with echinoids and has highly atrophied cirri. We rediscovered the barnacle for the first time from description and verified that the barnacles live obligately in half-open galls formed on the test of the sea urchin Echinothrix diadema (Diadematidae: Echinodermata). A molecular phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that the obligate association with echinoids derived from epizoic life on crustaceans. A stable isotope analysis suggests that the barnacle feeds on particulate organic matter (POM) without parasitizing the host echinoids. These findings suggest that the host shift caused losses of plates and feather-like cirri, changes in the attachment device from cem

SUBMITTER: Yamamori L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7113561 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature