Individual marking of soft-bodied subtidal invertebrates in situ – A novel staining technique applied to the giant plumose anemone Metridium farcimen (Tilesius, 1809)
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چکیده
The ability to recognize individuals and track growth over time is crucial to population dynamics research as well as studies of animal behavior. Invertebrates are particularly difficult to track as they often molt, have regenerative capabilities, or lack hard parts to attach markers. We tested, in laboratory and field studies, a new way of marking sea anemones (order Actiniaria) by injection of three vital stains (i.e., neutral red, methylene blue, and fluorescein). Neutral red and methylene blue did not affect growth or survival, but fluorescein was lethal at high concentrations. Marked individuals could be identified up to seven months after injection with neutral red, six weeks with methylene blue, and three days with low concentrations of fluorescein. Neutral red could be used for long-term monitoring of growth and survival in the field, and in combination with methylene blue could be used to mark individuals in distinguishable patterns for short-term studies such as examining predator-prey interactions, movement of individuals, and recruitment survival.
منابع مشابه
Role of the sea anemone Metridium senile in structuring a developing subtidal fouling community
In a variety of ecological settings, individual species have been shown to possess the ability to influence the structure and development of the community at large. However, within fouling communities, the influences of many sessile invertebrate species and how they drive patterns of succession remain relatively unexplored. The sea anemone Metridium senile is ubiquitous in cold temperate foulin...
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We have shown in a previous paper (Batham & Pantin, 19506) that the sea-anemone Metridium senile exhibits continual very slow muscular activity. It is most evident in the changes of shape of the column caused by the reciprocal contractions of the circular muscle sheet, and of the longitudinal parietal musculature which runs at the junction of each mesentery with the body wall. This inherent act...
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Neuromuscular properties of mesenteries from the sea-anemone metridium.
An attempt has been made to identify electrical correlates of behaviour in Metridium senile (L.), a sea-anemone whose neuromuscular physiology and structure are already familiar (Parker, 1919; Hall &Pantin, 1937; Batham &Pantin, 1950a,b,c; 1951; 1954; Pantin, 1952, 19656; Batham, Pantin & Robson, i960; Robson, 1961; Ross, 19600,6). In a recent paper Josephson (1966) described electrical potenti...
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