Feeding behavior of
Harlequin Shrimp Hymenocera picta Dana,
1852 (Hymenoceridae) on Sea Star Linckialaevigata (Ophidiasteridae)
Sanjeevi Prakash1 & Thipramalai Thangappan Ajith Kumar 2
1,2 Centre of Advanced Study in
Marine Biology, Faculty of Marine Sciences, AnnamalaiUniversity, Porto Novo, Tamil Nadu 608502, India
1 prakash.s1311@gmail.com
(corresponding author), 2 ttajith87@gmail.com
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o3506.4819-21 | ZooBank:urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:B8EAC45A-B9C8-43E5-B602-737487F53394
Editor: Deepak Apte,
BNHS, Mumbai, India. Date of publication: 26 September 2013
(online & print)
Manuscript details: Ms #
o3506 | Received 29 January 2013 | Final received 11 April 2013 | Finally
accepted 07 September 2013
Citation: Prakash,
S. & T.T.A. Kumar (2013). Feeding behavior of Harlequin Shrimp Hymenocera picta Dana,
1852 (Hymenoceridae) on Sea Star Linckia laevigata (Ophidiasteridae).Journal of Threatened Taxa 5(13): 4819–4821; http://dx.doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o3506.4819-21
Copyright: © Prakash& Kumar 2013. Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. JoTTallows unrestricted use of this article in any medium, reproduction and
distribution by providing adequate credit to the authors and the source of
publication.
Funding: Ministry of Earth Sciences,
Government of India under the project entitled “Development of technologies for
hatchery
production of
ornamental fishes at Lakshadweep : Sea ranching and technology transfer to
coastal and island communities”
Competing Interest: Authors
declare no competing interest.
Acknowledgements: The
authors are grateful to the authorities of AnnamalaiUniversity for the facilities. Thanks are extended to Centre for Marine Living
Resources and Ecology (CMLRE), Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES)
for providing financial assistance.
Shrimps commonly designated
as harlequins are placed under the family Hymenoceridae(Decapoda: Caridea) but earlier
it has been referred to as a member of the family Gnathophyllidae. These shrimps are the most striking
decapods in the world, showing unique coloration and morphological features (Debelius 2001). Harlequins of the genus Hymenocera Latreille display greatly expanded and leaf like appendages
including outer flagellum of the antennules and fixed fingers of the second
pair of chelipeds. Earlier, two closely related species
were recognized worldwide with similar morphology (body coloration) in the same
genus (Calado 2008). Recently, H. elegansHeller was re-designated as a junior synonym of H. pictaDana (De Grave & Fransen 2011; Radhakrishnan et al. 2012). This species has circum-tropical
distribution, throughout the Indo-Pacific and distributed from the Red Sea,
eastern Africa, to Indonesia and northern Australia, central and eastern
Pacific.
In general, shrimps feed on a
variety of prey and do not display selective feeding regimes. However, shrimps of the genus Hymenocera have a special feeding behavior,
which, exclusively feeds on starfishes. This possess a problem for hobbyists wishing to
display it in reef aquariums (Wickler & Seibt 1970). Harlequin shrimps feed on a variety of starfish with arms that are
triangular in section. In
harlequins, females are generally larger than males, thus exhibiting larger
colored blotches in the ventral region of their abdominal segments. The harlequin H. pictawas reported from Andaman & Nicobar Islands (Heller 1861; Tikader et al. 1986) and Lakshadweep (Radhakrishnanet al. 2012).
Recently, a pair of Hymenocera picta(TL 4.8–5.6 cm) (Image 1) was collected from the intertidal region of Agatti Island (10050’39.86”N
& 72011’16.89”E), Lakshadweep during November 2011. Shrimps were transferred to the hatchery
without causing any damage to the body parts. They were maintained in a
cylindrical-conical tank of 500L capacity with a water volume of 300L with
12:12 L:D photoperiod. The water quality parameters were
maintained at a temperature of 26±1 0C, salinity 32 ppt, pH 8.0 and dissolved oxygen
5mg/l. Ammonia and nitrite levels
were maintained below 0.1ppm. Initially, the shrimps were not fed for three to five days and then
examined the feeding behavior associated with its favorite prey Linckia laevigata.
Blue Star L. laevigata was introduced into the shrimp tank 30cm away
from the pair of H. picta to observe the
feeding behaviour on its favorite prey. Initially, there was no obvious
cooperation between the members, or the two different animals that would necessarily
make their hunting a success. Among
the shrimps, the matured male was first to attack the Sea Star (Image 2a)
against every conspecific including the paired mate. While feeding, the shrimp covered the
food with its larger claws touching it with several of its walking legs as if
riding on it. First, the smaller
male pierced the tubed feet of the Sea Star at the outer edges, which helped to
make the prey upside down to facilitate easy feeding (Image 2b). Initially, the male alone lifted the
prey with its legs and a major pair of larger claws, while larger female stayed
in position and spent some time moving around (Image 2c). In the case of mated pairs, if the male
failed to lift the prey, the female slowly approached the prey to help the
male. (Image 2d). Both the individuals were highly involved in moving around the edges of
the starfish’s legs to pierce the tubed feet, which helped them to lift their
prey (Image 2e,f) (Video 1). Finally, after about 30–60
minutes, the Sea Star was turned upside down with the efforts of both
individuals. The feeding initiated by Hymenoceraindividuals was started from the outer edges by piercing the epidermis of the
Sea Star with its first pair of legs, which possess tiny and sharp chelae. Further, the shrimps pulled out and ate
the internal ambulacral feet and gonadal tissue of
the prey.
Correlations between social
organizations and ecology of animal species have been often suggested but not
sufficiently demonstrated in Crustacea. The monogamous Hymenocerais a predator hunting for larger prey (Wickler 1973)
and finds its prey through chemical cues (Wickler& Seibt 1970; Seibt1974; Rainbow 1974; Wasserthal & Seibt 1976). Both the sexes are equally effective in hunting (male are more agile and
find new prey faster); single individuals can effectively turn the larger prey
upside down and immobilize them (Seibt & Wickler 1979). In addition, females feed more on prey because of its larger size and
their need to increase their reproductive value.
Hymenocera’s are able to feed on the
crown of thorn starfish Acanthaster sp., which
is destructive to Indo-Pacific coral reefs. This has led to a premature publicity of
these shrimps considering them as a biological weapon against the Acanthaster, if this could be bred in captivity and
transferred to threatened areas (Seibt & Wickler 1979).
The main bottleneck for
hobbyists in maintaining individuals of harlequins is in trying to provide live
starfish for their prey. Finding a
suitable alternate commercial feed for these organisms instead of live starfish
will greatly help in culturing of this species, and make a tremendous increase
in their market value.
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