Summary
Many tropical brown algae have low levels of polyphenolic compounds and are readily consumed by herbivorous fish. In contrast, temperate brown algae often produce large quantities of phenolic compounds causing them to be distasteful to herbivorous gastropods and sea urchins. We hypothesized that tropical brown algae do not use phenolic compounds as antiherbivore defenses because these compounds are not effective deterrents against tropical fish. To test our hypothesis, we assessed the ability of extracts from 8 tropical and 13 temperate algae with a broad range of phenolic levels to deter feeding by herbivorous fishes on Guam. Extracts of the high-phenolic (>2% d.w.) temperate brown algae consistently deterred feeding by herbivorous fishes, whereas extracts from low phenolic (<2% d.w.) temperate and 6 of 8 low-phenolic tropical brown algae did not. Thus, phenolic compounds could be effective feeding deterrents towards herbivorous fishes on Guam, but for unknown reasons they are not used by Guamanian brown algae.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Bakus GJ (1969) Energetics and feeding in shallow marine waters. Intern Rev Gen Exp Zool 4:275–369
Bakus GJ (1974) Toxicity in holothurians: a geographic pattern. Biotropica 6:229–236
Bakus GJ, Green G (1974) Toxicity in sponges and holothurians: a geographic pattern. Science 185:951–953
Bertness MD, Garrity SD, Levings SC (1981) Predation pressure and gastropod foraging: a tropical-temperate comparison. Evolution 35:995–1007
Carpenter RC (1986) Partitioning herbivory and its effects on coral reef algal communities. Ecol Monogr 56:345–363
Dethier MN (1982) Pattern and process in tidepool algae: factors influencing seasonality and distribution. Bot Mar 48:343–348
Duggins DO (1980) Kelp beds and sea otters: an experimental approach. Ecology 61:447–453
Faulkner DJ (1984) Marine natural products: metabolites of marine algae and herbivorous marine mollusks. Nat Prod Rep 1:251–280
Fenical W (1975) Halogenation in the Rhodophyta: a review. J Phycol 11:245–259
Fenical W, Sims JJ, Squatrito D, Wing RM, Radlick P (1973) Zonarol and isozonarol, fungitoxic hydroquinones from the brown seaweed Dictyopteris zonaroides. J Org Chem 38:2383–2386
Foreman RE (1977) Benthic community modification and recovery following intensive grazing by Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis. Helgol Wiss Meeresunters 30:468–484
Geiselman JA, McConnell OJ (1981) Polyphenols in brown algae Fucus vesiculosus and Ascophyllum nodosum: chemical defenses against the marine herbivorous snail, Littorina littorea. J Chem Ecol 7:1115–1133
Gerwick WH (1981) The natural products chemistry of the Dictyotaceae. Dissertation, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA
Gerwick WH, Fenical W (1982) Phenolic lipids from related marine algae of the order Dictyotales. Phytochem 21:633–637
Harborne JD (1977) Introduction to Ecological Biochemistry. Academic Press, New York, New York, USA
Hawkins SJ, Hartnoll RG (1983) Grazing of intertidal algae by marine invertebrates. Oceanogr Mar Biol Ann Rev 21:195–282
Hay ME (1981a) The functional morphology of turf-forming sea-weeds: persistance in stressful marine habitats. Ecology 62:739–750
Hay ME (1981b) Herbivory, algal distribution, and the maintenance of between habitat diversity on a tropical fringing reef. Am Nat 118:520–540
Hay ME (1984a) Patterns of fish and urchin grazing on Caribbean coral reefs: are previous results typical? Ecology 65:446–454
Hay ME (1984b) Predictable spatial escapes from herbivory: how do these affect the evolution of herbivore resistance in tropical marine communities? Oecologia 64:396–407
Hay ME, Fenical W (1988) marine plant-herbivore interactions: the ecology of chemical defense. Ann Rev Ecol Syst 19:111–145
Hay ME, Colburn T, Downing D (1983) Spatial and temporal patterns in herbivory on a Caribbean fringing reef: the effects on plant distribution. Oecologia 58:299–308
Hay ME, Duffy JE, Pfister CA, Fenical W (1987a) Chemical defense against different marine herbivores: are amphipods insect equivalents? Ecology 68:1567–1580
Hay ME, Fenical W, Gustafson K (1987b) Chemical defense against diverse coral-reef hervivores. Ecology 68:1581–1591
Hay ME, Renaud PE, Fenical W (1988) Large mobile versus small sedentary herbivores and their resistance to seaweed chemical defenses. Oecologia 75:246–252
Horn MH (1989) Biology of marine herbivorous fishes. Oceanogr Mar Biol Ann Rev 27:167–272
Lewis SM (1986) The role of herbivorous fishes in the organization of a Caribbean reef community. Ecol Monogr 56:183–200
Lubchenco J (1980) Algal zonation in a marine rocky intertidal community: an experimental analysis. Ecology 61:333–344
Mann KH (1977) Destruction of kelp beds by sea urchins: a cyclical phenomenon or irreversible degradation? Helgol Wiss Meeresunters 30:455–467
Norris JN, Fenical W (1982) Chemical defense in tropical marine algae. In: Rutzler K, Macintyre IG (eds) The Atlantic Barrier Reef Ecosystem at Carrie Bow Cay, Belize. In: Structure and Communities. Smithsonian Contributions in Marine Science 12:417–431
Ogden JC, Lobel PS (1978) The role of herbivorous fish and urchins in coral reef communities. Environ Biol Fish 3:49–63
Ogden JC, Brown RA, Salesky N (1973) Grazing by the echinoid Diadema antillarum Philippi: formation of halos around West Indian patch reefs. Science 182:715–717
Ortega S (1986) Fish predation on gastropods on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 97:181–192
Paine RT, Vadas RL (1969) The effects of grazing by sea urchins, Strongylocentrotus spp., on benthic algal populations. Limnol Ocean 14:710–719
Paul VJ (1985) The natural products chemistry and chemical ecology of tropical green algae of the order Caulerpales. Dissertation, University of California, San Diego, California, USA
Paul VJ (1987) Feeding deterrent effects of algal natural products. Bull Mar Sci 41:514–522
Paul VJ, Fenical W (1987) Natural products chemistry and chemical defense in tropical marine algae of the phylum Chlorophyta. In: Scheuer PJ (ed) Marine Bioorganic Chemistry, Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 1–29
Paul VJ, Hay ME (1986) Seaweed susceptibility to herbivory: chemical and morphological correlates. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 33:255–264
Paul VJ, Van Alstyne KL (1988a) Chemical defense and chemical variation in some tropical Pacific species of Halimeda (Halimedaceae; Chlorophyta). Coral Reefs 6:263–269
Paul VJ, Van Alstyne KL (1988b) The use of ingested algal diterpenoids by Elysia halimedae MacNae (Opisthobranchia: Ascoglossa) as antipredator defenses. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 119:15–29
Paul VJ, Hay ME, Duffy JE, Fenical W, Gustafson K (1987) Chemical defense in the seaweed Ochtodes secundiramea (Montagne) Howe (Rhodophyta): effects of its monoterpenoid components upon diverse coral-reef herbivores. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 114:249–260
Ragan MA, Craigie JS (1978) Phenolic compounds in brown and red algae. In: Hellebust JA, Craigie JS (eds) Handbook of Phycological Methods, Vol II. Cambridge Univ Press, Cambridge, UK, pp 157–179
Ragan MA, Glombitza K (1986) Phlorotannins, brown algal polyphenols. In: Round FE, Chapman DJ (eds) Progress in Phycological Research, Vol 4. Biopress Limited, Bristol, pp 129–241
Randall JE (1961) Overgrazing of algae by herbivorous marine fishes. Ecology 42:812
Rao CB, Pullaiah KC, Surapaneni RK, Sullivan BW, Albizati KF, Faulkner DJ (1986) The diterpenes of Dictyota dichotoma from the Indian Ocean. J Org Chem 51:2736–2742
Rausher MD, Simms EL (1989) The evolution of resistance to herbivory in Ipomoea purpurea. I. Attempts to detect selection. Evolution 43:563–572
Rhoades DF (1979) Evolution of plant chemical defense against herbivores. In: Rosenthal GA, Janzen DH (eds) Herbivores: Their Interaction with Secondary Plant Metabolites. Academic Press, New York, New York, USA, pp 1–55
Rosenthal GA, Janzen DH (1979) Herbivores: Their Interactions with Secondary Plant Metabolites. Academic Press, New York, New York, USA
Sammarco PW (1982) Effects of grazing by Diadema antillarum Philippi (Echinodermata: Echinoidea) on algal diversity and community structure. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 65:83–105
Sammarco PW, Levinton JS, Ogden JC (1974) Grazing and control of coral reef community structure by Diadema antillarum Philippi (Echinodermata: Echinoidea): a preliminary study. J Mar Res 32:47–53
Sokal RR, Rohlf FJ (1981) Biometry. W.H. Freeman and Company, New York, New York, USA
Steinberg PD (1985) Feeding preferences of Tegula funebralis and chemical defenses of marine brown algae. Ecol Monogr 55:333–349
Steinberg PD (1986) Chemical defenses and the susceptibility of tropical brown algae to herbivores. Oecologia 69:628–630
Steinberg PD (1988) The effects of quantitative and qualitative variation in phenolic compounds on feeding in three species of marine invertebrate herbivores. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 120:221–237
Steinberg PD (1989) Biogeographic variation in brown algal polyphenolics and other secondary metabolites: comparison between temperate Australasia and North America. Oecologia 78:373–382
Steinberg PD, Paul VJ (1990) Fish feeding and chemical defense of tropical brown algae in Western Australia. Mar Ecol Prog Ser (in press)
Swain TS, Goldstein JL (1964) The quantitative analysis of phenolic compounds. In: Pridham JB (ed) Methods in Polyphenol Chemistry. MacMillan, New York, New York, USA, pp 131–146
Van Alstyne KL, Paul VJ (1988) The role of secondary metabolites in marine ecological interactions. Proc 6th Internat Coral Reefs Symp 1:175–186
Vermeij GJ (1978) Biogeography and Adaptation: Patterns of Marine Life. Harvard Univ. Press, Cambridge
Witman JD (1987) Subtidal coexistence: storms, grazing, mutualism, and the zonation of kelps and mussels. Ecol Monogr 57:167–187
Wylie C, Paul VJ (1988) Feeding preferences of the surgeonfish Zebrasoma flavescens in relation to chemical defenses of the tropical algae. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 45:23–32
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Van Alstyne, K.L., Paul, V.J. The biogeography of polyphenolic compounds in marine macroalgae: temperate brown algal defenses deter feeding by tropical herbivorous fishes. Oecologia 84, 158–163 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00318266
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00318266