Endosymbiotic copepods may feed on zooxanthellae from their coral host, Pocillopora damicornis

The Xarifiidae is one of the most common families of endosymbiotic copepods that live in close association with scleractinian corals. Previous studies on xarifiids primarily focused on their taxonomy and morphology, while their influence on corals is still unknown. In this study, we collected a total of 1,579 individuals belonging to 6 species of xarifiids from 360 colonies of Pocillopora damicornis at Nanwan Bay, southern Taiwan from July 2007 to May 2008. Furthermore, using optical and electron microscopic observations, we examined the gut contents of Xarifia fissilis, the most abundant species of the Xarifiidae that we collected. We found that the gut of X. fissilis was characterized by a reddish-brown color due to the presence of numerous unicellular algae with diameters of 5–10 μm. TEM observations indicated that the unicellular algae possessed typical characteristics of Symbiodinium including a peripheral chloroplast, stalked pyrenoids, starch sheaths, mesokaryotic nuclei, amphiesmas, an accumulation body, and mitochondria. After starving the isolated X. fissilis in the light and dark (light intensity: 140 μmol photon m⁻² s⁻¹; photoperiod: 12 h light/12 h dark) for 2 weeks, fluorescence was clearly visible in its gut and fecal pellets under fluorescent microscopic observations. The cultivation experiment supports the hypothesis that the unicellular algae were beneficial to the survival of X. fissilis under light conditions, possibly through transferring photosynthates to the hosts. These results suggest that X. fissilis may consume and retain unicellular algae for further photosynthesis.