Meeting Abstract
Sea stars play an important role in structuring communities through predation of attached prey species. Sea stars locate their prey through photoreception, mechanoreception, and chemoreception, although the mechanisms behind some of these behaviors are still poorly understood. The leather sea star Dermasterias imbricata is a major predator in subtidal communities consuming a diverse assemblage of prey, including competitively dominant species such as Metridium farcimen. However, the method for locating prey for D. imbricata is unknown. In y-maze trials, we examined the chemosensory abilities of D. imbricata in locating four potential prey species, three sea anemone species (class Anthozoa) and one sea cucumber (class Holothuroidea). Additionally, we examined the relationship between sea star size and consumable anemone size through predation trials. Y-maze trials indicate that D. imbricata does not use chemical cues in locating its prey and predation trials show a strong relationship between the size of sea anemone that can be consumed and sea star size. There was no relationship between size of sea anemone that will be attacked and sea star size.
