An unprecedented association of an encrusting bryozoan on the test of a live sea urchin: epibiotic relationship and phys
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An unprecedented association of an encrusting bryozoan on the test of a live sea urchin: epibiotic relationship and physiological responses Vinicius Queiroz 1 Received: 23 April 2020 / Revised: 15 July 2020 / Accepted: 19 August 2020 # Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung 2020
Abstract Although well known for their epibiotic relationship with many living substrates, records of bryozoans settling on echinoderms are uncommon. In the few recorded cases, most basibionts (hosts) are cidaroid sea urchins, and their primary spines seems to be the preferred place for bryozoa settlement. Here, an unprecedented epibiosis between a bryozoan and a non-cidaroid sea urchin is reported, in which the epibiont Schizoporella errata (Waters, 1878) was found attached to a living specimen of Echinometra lucunter (Linnaeus, 1758). Additionally, the total coelomocyte counts (TCC), the differential coelomocyte counts (DCC), and the wound healing dynamics of the bryozoan-encrusted sea urchin were observed and contrasted to a control group of healthy animals. Confidence intervals of the mean for TCC and DCC in the healthy animals were calculated and compared with the bryozoan-encrusted sea urchin. Only one bryozoan colony was found on the affected echinoid, covering a spineless area of 58.9 mm2. Consistent differences were observed in coelomocyte counts (TCC and DCC) for the bryozoan-encrusted echinoid when compared with the control group: 1.9-fold more coelomocytes and 4.7- and 2.75-fold more red and colorless spherulocytes, as well as 1.38 and 2.05 fewer phagocytes and vibratile cells respectively. An advanced inflammatory-like response on the wounded area after the careful removal of S. errata was also observed, suggesting that the healing process had started before epibiont removal. Thus, the integrated analyses of the results presented here indicate that the basibiont sea urchin was physiologically affected during epibiotic associations. Keywords Coelomocytes . Echinodermata . Immune system . Wound healing
Introduction Epibiosis has been considered as a typical aquatic phenomenon (Wahl 1989; Abrahão et al. 2017). This facultative biological interaction involves two organisms: the epibiont, which is the species attached to the living substrate; and the basibiont (the species providing the living substratum) (Wahl 1989). This Communicated by S. Stöhr Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-020-01108-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Vinicius Queiroz [email protected] 1
Department of Physiology, Institute of Biosciences, University of São Paulo, Rua do Matão, n° 101, Cidade Universitária, São Paulo (SP) 05508-090, Brazil
association can occur throughout the entire life of the epibiont, or only during its sessile period (Fernandez-Leborans 2013). Echinoderms are well known as hosts of a plethora of marine taxa, ranging from microorganisms to vertebrates (Barel and Kramers 1977), but records of ep
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