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Biol. Bull. 215: 73-88. (August 2008)
© 2008 Marine Biological Laboratory

Nutritional Role of Two Algal Symbionts in the Temperate Sea Anemone Anthopleura elegantissima Brandt

Heather Bergschneider and Gisèle Muller-parker*

Shannon Point Marine Center and Department of Biology, Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington 98225-9160

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: Gisele.Muller-Parker{at}wwu.edu

The intertidal sea anemone Anthopleura elegantissima in the Pacific Northwest may host a single type of algal symbiont or two different algal symbionts simultaneously: zooxanthellae (Symbiodinium muscatinei) and zoochlorellae (green algae; Trebouxiophyceae, Chlorophyta). A seasonal comparison of zooxanthellate and zoochlorellate anemones showed stable symbiont population densities in summer and winter, with densities of zoochlorellae about 4 times those of zooxanthellae. Photosynthesis-irradiance curves of freshly isolated symbionts show that the productivity (Pmax cell) of freshly isolated zooxanthellae was about 2.5 times that of zoochlorellae during July; comparable rates were obtained in other months. Models of algal carbon flux show that zoochlorellae may supply the host with more photosynthetic carbon per unit anemone biomass than zooxanthellae supply. Zooxanthellate anemone tissue was 2{per thousand} (13C) and 5{per thousand} (15N) enriched and zoochlorellate anemone tissue was 6{per thousand} (13C) and 8{per thousand} (15N) enriched over their respective symbionts, suggesting that zoochlorellate anemones receive less nutrition from their symbionts than do zooxanthellate individuals. The disparity between predicted contributions from the algal carbon budgets and the stable isotopic composition suggests that short-term measures of algal contributions may not reflect actual nutritional inputs to the host. Isotopic data support the hypothesis of substantial reliance on external food sources. This additional nutrition may allow both algae to persist in this temperate intertidal anemone in spite of differences in seasonal photosynthetic carbon contributions.






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