. The Biological bulletin. Biology; Zoology; Biology; Marine Biology. 206 B. OKAMURA AND J. C. PARTRIDGE let, 1979; Palumbi, 1984), the morphological responses to flow of active suspension feeders have received little atten- tion. Studies of cnidarians indicate that morphological changes can enable passive suspension feeders to exploit a range of flow environments. For instance, individuals of the sea anemone Anthopleura xanthogrammica are found in flow conditions ranging from exposed intertidal surge channels to protected crevices. Koehl (1977) showed that variation in the shapes of anemones
. The Biological bulletin. Biology; Zoology; Biology; Marine Biology. 206 B. OKAMURA AND J. C. PARTRIDGE let, 1979; Palumbi, 1984), the morphological responses to flow of active suspension feeders have received little atten- tion. Studies of cnidarians indicate that morphological changes can enable passive suspension feeders to exploit a range of flow environments. For instance, individuals of the sea anemone Anthopleura xanthogrammica are found in flow conditions ranging from exposed intertidal surge channels to protected crevices. Koehl (1977) showed that variation in the shapes of anemones resulted in exposure to similar flow forces in these two types of habitats. Thus taller anemones in protected habitats encountered flows as fast as those experienced by squat anemones in surge channels because squat anemones hide in the reduced flow regimes of the benthic boundary layer, whereas tall anemones extend into the freestream flow regime beyond that layer. Similarly. Anthony (19971 reported large individuals of the anemone Metridium senile to occur in regions of low currents and small individuals in narrow channels with greatly increased current speeds. He found that feeding rates were dependent on anemone size and hence were related to habitat. Large anemones thus experienced an inhibition in feeding at in- creased flows, but the feeding rate of small anemones was unaffected. These studies indicate that plasticity in body size and shape may allow anemones to avoid the feeding inhibition that occurs in faster flows by ensuring that feed- ing surfaces experience similar flow microhabitats even though the anemones may be found in strikingly different flow macrohabitats. Here we address how flow affects the growth rates and the associated morphological responses of an active suspen- sion feeder by studying colonies of the bryozoan Membra- nipora membranacea along a gradient of extremely rapid flow in a tidal channel in southwest Ireland. Materials and Methods The study s
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Keywords: ., bookauthorlilliefrankrat, booksubjectbiology, booksubjectzoology
