Development of symbiotic bacterial bioluminescence in a nearshore cephalopod, Euprymna scolopes

Abstract

The small neritic cephalopod Euprymna scolopes possesses a large glandular light organ that contains the symbiotic luminous bacterium Vibrio fischeri. Adult and immature E. scolopes were caught in the evening with dip nets in shallow water along the shore of Kanohe Bay, Oahu, Hawaii, during late February 1984. The initiation of the symbiosis was investigated by rearing the cephalopods either in seawater taken from aquaria containing adult E. scolopes or in seawater with reduced bacterial concentrations due to filtration or due to absence of adults. Light production was measured during early development. Bioluminescence was not detected in E. scolopes immediately after hatching. Most individulas of E. scolopes that hatched into seawater containing, or previously exposed to, adults produced light within 24 h. Individuals that hatched into filtered seawater did not produce light. The data suggest that each generation aquires an infection from free-living bacteria rather than from the egg, and that light production is dependent on the nutritional state of the host. Access to an initial inoculum of free-living, luminous bacteria seems to be critical for establishing a successful symbiosis.