ABSTRACT
The common bright yellow antarctic lamellarian gastropodMarseniopsis mollis was examined for the presence of defensive chemistry. Proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy indicated that a major component of ethanolic extracts purified by reversed-phase column chromatography was homarine. Further high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis of the mantle, foot, and viscera verified the presence of homarine in all body tissues at concentrations ranging from 6 to 24 mg/g dry tissue. A conspicuous macroinvertebrate predator of the shallow antarctic benthos, the sea starOdontaster validus, always rejected live individuals ofM. mollis, while readily feeding on pieces of fish tail muscle. Filter paper disks treated with shrimp elicited a broad range of feeding behaviors in the sea starO. validus (movement of disc to mouth, extrusion of cardiac stomach, humped feeding posture). Shrimp disks treated with homarine (0.4 and 4 mg/disk) were rejected byO. validus significantly more frequently than control disks treated with solvent carrier and shrimp or shrimp alone. The highest concentration of homarine tested not only caused feeding deterrence, but in several sea stars a flight response was noted. Homarine was not detected in the tunic of the antarctic ascidianCnemidocarpa verrucosa, a presumed primary prey ofM. mollis. Nonetheless, crude extracts of the epizooites that foul the tunic (primarily the bryozoans and hydroids) contain homarine, suggestingM. mollis may ingest and derive its chemistry from these organisms. This appears to be only the third example of chemical defense in a member of the Order Mesogastropoda. As the vestigial internalized shell ofM. mollis is considered a primitive condition, the findings of this study lend support to the hypothesis that chemical defense evolved prior to shell loss in shell-less gastropods.
ABSTRACT
Extracts of the dorid nudibranchTritoniella belli and stoloniferan coralClavularia frankliniana were chromatographed and analyzed by(1)H NMR and thin-layer chromatography. Three glycerol ethers were detected inT. belli, primarily 1-O-hexadecyl glycerol (chimyl alcohol). Chimyl alcohol was also detected after gradient flash chromatography and reverse-phase HPLC purification in the tissues ofC. frankliniana. The common omnivorous predatory Antarctic sea starOdontaster validus, a likely predator of benthic invertebrates, showed feeding deterrence to small cubes ofT. belli mantle tissue placed on the tube feet along the ambulacral feeding groove, while always extruding the cardiac stomach when presented with cubes of shrimp tissue of similar size. Filter-paper disks soaked in an aqueous shrimp solution and then dried were found to elicit a broad range of feeding behaviors inO. validus, including movement of the shrimp disk to the mouth, extrusion of the cardiac stomach, and the assumption of a humped feeding posture. Chimyl alcohol-treated shrimp disks caused significant feeding deterrence in sea stars when compared with control disks (solvent plus shrimp treated disks alone).T. belli andC. frankliniana appear to employ a defensive compound that has been found in a variety of temperate and tropical mollusks, where it has been demonstrated to deter fish predators. We provide evidence for further deterrent capabilities of chimyl alcohol and of its trophic relationship in the polar ecosystem of McMurdo Sound, Antarctica.
