PHOTOSYNTHETIC PRODUCTION BY THE CORAL REEF ANEMONE, LEBRUNIA CORALLIGENS WILSON, AND BEHAVIORAL CORRELATES OF TWO NUTRITIONAL STRATEGIES

¹ Institute of Oceanography, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3A 2B2

The coral reef anemone Lebrunia coralligens Wilson bears, in addition to its lanceolate, feeding tentacles, lobate pseudotentacles which are shown to be photosynthetic organs. Anemones exposed to light demonstrate a net oxygen production and, when incubated in NaH¹⁴CO₃ in the light, incorporate ¹⁴C into the zooxanthellae and animal tissue.

Diurnal rhythms of pseudotentacle expansion and contraction are under the control of ambient light but are modified by the animal's nutritional status. Unfed animals utilize their lobate pseudotentacles to obtain the maximum nutritional uptake by autotrophy while fed animals reduce their autotrophic intake. However, lanceolate tentacle expansion is primarily a feeding response and is augmented by a higher nutritional state. It is concluded that anemone behavior is an expression of the two nutritional strategies.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				O. Levy, Z. Dubinsky, and Y. Achituv Photobehavior of stony corals: responses to light spectra and intensity J. Exp. Biol., November 15, 2003; 206(22): 4041 - 4049. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]