INVESTIGADORES
IRIBARNE Oscar Osvaldo
artículos
Título:
Ant predation on intertidal polychaetes in a SW Atlantic estuary
Autor/es:
G. PALOMO; MARTINETTO P; C. PEREZ; O. IRIBARNE,
Revista:
MARINE ECOLOGY PROGRESS SERIES
Editorial:
INTER-RESEARCH
Referencias:
Lugar: Oldendorf/Luhe; Año: 2003 vol. 253 p. 165 - 173
ISSN:
0171-8630
Resumen:
Polychaetes in soft-bottom intertidal habitats of the Mar Chiquita coastal lagoon
(38° 00? S, 57° 30?W, Argentina) are the prey of shorebirds, fishes and crabs. Based on 3 yr of field
sampling, we observed that the fire ant Solenopsis richteri is another important predator of polychaetes
(mostly Laeonereis acuta) during the summer (December to March). Ants use intertidal areas
adjacent to terrestrial habitats which have well-developed soils and are characterized by inland vegetation
(i.e. pampas grasses), but appear to be excluded from habitats with the burrowing crab Chasmagnathus
granulata. Ants build intertidal galleries perpendicular to the shoreline that are used to
transport polychaetes to the nest. The ants attacked the polychaetes in burrows with diameters larger
than their own abdomen. They selected larger polychaete sizes, attacking up to 66% of the polychaetes
in the high intertidal. Based on our observations, and given the wide range of this species and
related fire ants, we believe that this terrestrial-marine interaction between fire ants and polychaetes
could be a common phenomenon