Abstract
The settling cues used by larvae of Semibalanus balanoides (L.) were examined at large (1 m), medium (1 mm), and small (<300 μm) spatial scales, corresponding roughly to choices made during broad and close exploration and final inspection within the settling zone. The experiments were carried out at two locations in Canada in May and June 1984. Samples of substratum surfaces from above (n=87 sites unselected by cyprids) and below (n=84 sites selected by cyprids) the upper limit of the barnacle zone were characterized according to 13 quantitative and semi-quantitative variables (diatom cover, macroalgae, detritus) using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The data were analysed using a stepwise logistic regression. At the large scale, the presence of an alga (Urospora wormskjoldii Mertens) in the upper uncolonized zone and a diatom (Achnantes parvula Kützing) within the settling zone are potential settlement cues. At the medium scale in the settling zone, larvae select clean sites, devoid of detritus and diatoms or on which detrital matter, when present, is of finer texture than on the unchosen sites within the settling zone. At the smallest scale (<300 μm, equal to the average maximum width of the larvae), we tested the hypothesis that the larva seeks optimal microheterogeneity (presumably providing good adhesion). Microheterogeneity of the surface was measured immediately under the larva, around the settling organs, the antennules. Our results show that such surface microheterogeneity is significantly greater and the vertical center of gravity of the surface significantly lower on the sites selected by the cyprids than on the unselected contiguous sites. Fractal measurements carried out on selected and contiguous unselected surfaces indicate that larvae discriminate microheterogeneity levels below a step length of 35 μm, a value approximately the size of the diameter of the antennular discs (40 μm), which are used to explore the substratum and attach.
Similar content being viewed by others
Literature cited
Adler, G. H. and M. L. Wilson: Small mammals on Massachusetts islands: the use of probability functions in clarifying biogeographic relationships. Oecologia 66, 178–186 (1985)
Bergeron, P. and E. Bourget: Shore topography and spatial partitioning of crevices refuges by sessile epibenthos in an ice disturbed environment. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 28, 129–145 (1986)
Castenholz, R. W.: An experimental study of the vertical distribution of littoral marine diatoms. Limnol. Oceanogr. 8, 450–463 (1963)
Chabot, R. and E. Bourget: Influence of substratum heterogeneity and settled barnacle density on the settlement of cypris larvae. Mar. Biol. (1988). (In press)
Connell, J. H.: The influence of competition, predation by Thais lapillus, and other factors on natural populations of the barnacle Balanus balanoides. Ecol. Monogr. 31, 61–104 (1961)
Crisp, D. J.: The behaviour of barnacle cyprids in relation to water movement over a surface. J. exp. Biol. 32, 569–590 (1955)
Crisp, D. J.: Territorial behaviour in barnacle settlemet. J. exp. Biol. 38, 429–446 (1961)
Crisp, D. J.: Factors influencing the settlement of marine invertebrate larvae, pp 177–205. In: Chemoreception in marine organisms. Ed. by P. T. Grant and A. M. Mackie. New York: Academic Press 1974
Crisp, D. J. and H. Barnes: The orientation and distribution of barnacles at settlement with particular reference to surface contour. J. Anim. Ecol. 23, 142–162 (1954)
Crisp, D. J. and P. S. Meadows: Adsorbed layers: the stimulus to settlement in barnacles. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B Biol. Sci. 158, 364–387 (1963)
Crisp, D. J. and D. A. Ritz: Responses of cirripede larvae to light. 1. Experiments with white light. Mar. Biol. 23, 327–335 (1973)
Crisp, D. J. and J. S. Ryland: Influence of filming and of surface texture on the settlement of marine organisms. Nature, Lond. 185, 119 (1960)
Engelman, L.: Stepwise logistic regression, pp 330–344. In: BMDP Statistical Software, Berkeley: Univ. California Press 1983
Efron, B.: The efficiency of logistic regression compared to normal discriminant analysis. J. Am. Stat. Ass. 70, 892–898 (1975)
Foster, B. A.: Desiccation as a factor in the intertidal zonation of barnacles. Mar. Biol. 8, 12–29 (1971)
Frontier, S.: Fractal theory as applied to ecology. Commun. SCOR-UNESCO Symp. on Ecosystem Theory in relation to Biological Oceanography, QUE. 16–23 (march) 1985
Hudon, C. and E. Bourget: Initial colonization of artificial substrate: Community development and structure studied by scanning electron microscopy. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 38, 1371–1384 (1981)
Hudon, C., E. Bourget and P. Legendre: An integrated study of the factors influencing the choice of a settling site of Balanus crenatus cyprid larvae. Can. J. Fish. aquat. Sci. 40, 1186–1194 (1983)
Huxley, R., D. L. Holland and D. J. Crisp: Influence of oil shale on intertidal organisms: effect of oil shale surface roughness on settlement of the barnacle Balamus balanoides (L.). J. exp. mar. Biol. Ecol. 82, 231–237 (1984)
Knight-Jones, E. W. and D. J. Crisp: Gregariousness in barnacles in relation to the fouling of ships and to antifouling research. Nature, Lond. 171, 1109–1110 (1953)
Larman, V. N. and P. A. Gabbott: Settlement of cyprid larvae of Balanus balanoides and Elminius modestus induced by extracts of adults barnacles and other marine animals. J. mar. biol. Ass. U.K. 55, 183–190 (1975)
Mandelbrot, B.: Fractals, form, chance and dimension, 365 pp. San Francisco: Freeman and Co. 1977
Mandelbrot, B.: The fractal geometry of nature, 468 pp. San Francisco: Freeman and Co. 1982
Miller, M. A., J. C. Rapeau and W. F. Whedon: The role of slime film in the attachment of fouling organisms. Biol. Bull. mar. biol. Lab., Woods Hole 94, 143–157 (1948)
Morse, A. N. C. and E. Morse: Recruitment and metamorphosis of Haliotis larvae induced by molecules uniquely available at the surfaces of crustose red algae. J. exp. mar. Biol. Ecol. 75, 191–215 (1984)
Nott, J. A. and B. A. Foster: On the structure on the antennular attachment organ on the cypris larvae of Balanus balanoides (L.) Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 256, 115–134 (1969)
Prentice, R. L.: Use of the logistic model in retrospective studies. Biometrics 32, 559–606 (1976a)
Prentice, R. L.: A generalization of the probit and logit methods for dose response curves. Biometrics 32, 761–768 (1976b)
Strathmann, R. R. and E. S. Branscomb: Adequacy of cues to favorable sites used by settling larvae of two intertidal barnacles, pp 77–89. In: Reproductive ecology of marine invertebrates. Ed. by S. E. Stancyk. Columbia, SC: Univ. South Carolina Press 1979
Strathmann, R. R., E. S. Branscomb and K. Vedder: Fatal errors in set as a cost of dispersal and the influence of intertidal flora on settlement of barnacles. Oecologia 48, 13–18 (1981)
Walker, G.: A study of the cement apparatus of the cypris larva of the barnacle Balanus balanoides. Mar. Biol. 9, 205–212 (1971)
Walker, G. and A. B. Yule: Temporary adhesion of the barnacle cyprid: the existence of an antennular adhesive secretion. J. mar. biol. Ass. U. K. 64, 679–686 (1984)
Wethey, D. S.: Spatial pattern in barnacle settlement: day to day changes during the settlement season. J. mar. biol. Ass. U. K. 64, 687–698 (1984)
Yule, A. B. and D. J. Crisp: Adhesion of cypris larvae of the barnacle Balanus balanoides to clean and arthropodin treated surfaces. J. mar. biol. Ass. U. K. 63, 261–271 (1983)
Yule, A. B. and G. Walker: The temporary adhesion of barnacle cyprids: effects of some different surface characteristics. J. mar. biol. Ass. U. K. 64, 429–439 (1984)
ZoBell, C. E.: The role of bacteria in the fouling of submersed surfaces. Biol. Bull. mar. biol. Lab., Woods Hole 77, 302 (1939)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Communicated by R. W. Doyle, Halifax
Contribution to the programme of GIROQ (Groupe interuniversitaire de recherches océanographiques du Québec)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Le Tourneux, F., Bourget, E. Importance of physical and biological settlement cues used at different spatial scales by the larvae of Semibalanus balanoides . Mar. Biol. 97, 57–66 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00391245
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00391245