Observations on the tube-building behaviour of the marine amphipod Cymadusa filosa Savigny (Crustacea: Ampithoidae)

Abstract

The study reports on the tube-building behaviour of the corophioidean amphipod, Cymadusa filosa Savigny on two algae, Sargassum binderi Sonder and Ulva lactuca Linnaeus, based on experimental protocols using specimens in aquaria and in petri dishes. Cymadusa filosa was observed to construct open-ended, uniform diameter cylindrical tubes using amphipod silk, to bind together faecal pellets, detritus and fronds of Sargassum binderi or Ulva lactuca. Detailed studies of tube-building behaviour were carried out in petri dishes containing Ulva lactuca, using isolated specimens (5–13 mm in size) of different sexes for a period of one and a half months. Both males and females constructed tubes, and an average of four tubes were built by adults in 15 days. Females with young in the brood pouch did not construct new tubes following juvenile release. Juveniles were observed to build tubes using detritus and faecal material only within hours of being released from the brood pouch. The tubes of juveniles were either built on the walls of their mother's tubes or on an algal mass put together by the mother. There was a highly significant positive correlation between body length and tube length in males and females. There was no significant difference in the rate of tube length increase relative to body size between males and females, between males less than or more than 10 mm, or between females of less than or more than 10 mm. Tube-sharing was also observed between males and females.