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Biol Bull 134: 148-153. (February 1968)
© 1968 Marine Biological Laboratory
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FEEDING HABITS, BEHAVIOR AND HOST SPECIFICITY OF CAPRELLA GRAHAMI, AN AMPHIPOD COMMENSAL WITH THE STARFISH ASTERIAS FORBESI

WENDELL K. PATTON 1

1 Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, Ohio 43015, and Systematics-Ecology Program, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Mass. 02543

1. Caprella grahami was abundant on individuals of Asterias forbesi collected at Sandwich, Massachusetts. Commensals were found on all parts of the starfish and seemed to feed mainly on detritus that settled on the starfish or was caught up in host secretions.

2. Field collections and laboratory experiments indicate that C. grahami strongly prefers A. forbesi as a host over the sympatric A. vulgaris.

3. C. grahami is unusual among caprellids in lacking spines on the last three pairs of legs and is very rarely detained by host pedicellariae.

4. C. grahami crosses readily from one starfish to another, but was never found away from a starfish, and is considered to be an obligate commensal.






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