Sponge predation in the oyster reef community as demonstrated with Cliona celata Grant

Predation by various invertebrates on the burrowing sponge, Cliona celata Grant, was investigated both in the laboratory and field, in order to determine the importance of predation to a sponge population and the adaptive advantage of burrowing to escape predators. Thirty-one species of molluscs, crustaceans, polychaetes, and echinoderms commonly found on oyster beds in Beaufort, North Carolina were tested for their ability to prey on C. celata. Gastropods Diodora cayenensis Lamarck, Seila adamsi, H. C. Lea and Doriopsilla pharpa Marcus, isopod Cilicaea caudata (Say), decapods Alpheus heterochaelis Say, Panopeus herbsti Milne Edwards, Neopancpe sayi (Smith) Eurypanopeus depressus (Smith), Menippe mercenaria (Say) and Pilutnnus sayi Rathbun, and echinoids Arbacia punctulata (Lamarck) and Lytechinus variegatus (Lamarck) were all found to ingest sponge. Diodora, Seila, Doriopsilla, Cilicaea, Alpheus and Arbacia frequently eat sponges in nature. All sponge predators were able to obtain sponge ventilation papillae, which extend beyond the surface of the shell housing the sponge. Papillae lost to predation were regenerated within 12 days in Cliona celata; little regeneration was noted in predator-damaged Haliclona permollis (Bowerbank), a nonburrowing sponge. Only Arbacia was able to breach sponge galleries in the shell and destroy Cliona celata 2 to 3 times faster than growth could replace lost sponge tissue. The paucity of subtidal shelly bottom sponge fauna and cryptic or high intertidal habits of oyster bed sponges in Beaufort Harbor suggest at least partial control of populations of several common sponges by predators.