Skip to content
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Menu
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Menu
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
agricultural and biological sciences
An Experimental Investigation of the Palatability of Kelp Bed Algae to the Sea Urchin Parechinus angulosus LESKE
Marine Ecology, Volume 3, No. 4, Year 1982
Notification
URL copied to clipboard!
Description
Abstract. The relative palatability of 13 algae common in the kelp beds of the west coast of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa, is experimentally investigated with respect to feeding by the sea urchin Parechinus angulosus. We investigated 2 hypotheses: 1) that this important herbivore would feed selectively on these algae and 2) that Desmarestia firma, one of these algae, would be unattractive to Parechinus on account of the H2S04 in the thallus. Algal preferences are determined from 3 types of feeding experiment, results of which support our first hypothesis, and allow us to group the algae into 3 arbitrary categories: “preferred”, “intermediate”, and “non‐preferred”. To explain these patterns, we measured “relative astringen‐cy” of each species (essentially a phenol measurement), and phenol content of 4 species (FOUN‐DENIS method). Rates of feeding on single species are negatively correlated with relative astringen‐cies (r = 0.76, P = 0.99). The high relative astringency of D. firma is caused by its high (18 % per dry mass) H2S04 content, and it is non‐preferred. Our results therefore support our second hypothesis. Other implications of these results are discussed. Copyright © 1982, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved
Authors & Co-Authors
Anderson, Robert J.
South Africa, Cape Town
University of Cape Town
Velimirov, Branko
Austria, Vienna
University of Vienna Institute of Zoology
Statistics
Citations: 61
Authors: 2
Affiliations: 2
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1111/j.1439-0485.1982.tb00284.x
ISSN:
01739565
e-ISSN:
14390485
Study Approach
Quantitative
Study Locations
South Africa