Ávila-García, A.E., C., Sánchez, L., Huato-Soberanis, E., Borda & J., Gómez-Gutiérrez (2023). Continuous reproduction causes stable population structure of Sandyella tricornuta (Decapoda: Palaemonidae) epibiont of black cora. Pacific Science. 76(4): 397-410. DOI: 10.2984/76.4.5.
Ariadna Esmeralda Ávila-García 1, Carlos Sánchez 1, Leonardo Huato-Soberanis 2, Elizabeth Borda 3 y Jaime Gómez-Gutiérrez 4
Sandyella tricornuta (Hendrickx, 1990) is a small (<13 mm totallength), obligate and highly specific ectosymbiont of the black coral Antipathesgalapagensis Deichmann, 1941 with a remarkable morphology and bodycoloration that resembles black coral polyps. Sandyella tricornuta populationstructure was investigated to infer the reproductive periods evidenced withovigerous females from monthly collection at Espi´ritu Santo Island (April2009–March 2010) and along a latitudinal gradient of six islands (24–30° N, July2009) located along the west coast of the Gulf of California, Mexico. A total of2,899 S. tricornuta individuals were collected from 70 colonies of A. galapagensiswith a mean density of 210 inds./m3 per black coral colony. Sea floor temperatureof S. tricornuta/A. galapagensis habitat seasonally ranged between 21 and 30°C.Females constituted >60% of the entire S. tricornuta population and >59% ofthe collected females were ovigerous females, suggesting active reproductionthroughout the year and along the latitudinal gradient investigated. Sandyellatricornuta population density and sex ratio was similar throughout the yearindicating a seasonally stable population size. Total abundance of S. tricornuta wasdensity independent of black coral colony size and weight indicating thatS. tricornuta depends on A. galapagensis, but the black coral colony can grow anddevelop without S. tricornuta characteristic of a commensalism ectosymbioticassociation.
Palabras clave: Caridea; symbiosis; population density; sex ratio; ovigerous female; cohort overlap; Gulf of California; Mexico
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