Biology subjects

Chattopadhyay, D.

Publications and source records attributed to Chattopadhyay, D..

22 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

bioRxiv2020

Barnacle encrustation on molluscan prey offers associational resistance against drilling predation

Predation is one of the driving forces that shaped the marine ecosystems through time. Apart from the anti-predatory strategies adopted by the prey, the predatory outcome is often indirectly influenced by the other members of the ecological community. Association between organisms are often found to influence the outcome and the evolution of such association may have been guided by such interactions. Mollusc-burnacle association, although common, is not explored to assess if the epibiont offers the molluscs any protection against predation (associational resistance) or increases the risk by attracting predators (shared doom). Using a series of controlled experiments with a drilling predator (Paratectonatica tigrina), its prey (Pirenella cingulata) and an epibiont (Amphibalanus amphitrite), we evaluated the effect of epibionts on the drilling behavior of the predator by documenting the successful attack (Drilling frequency, DF), and handling time. Our results show that the prey with epibionts are significantly less likely to be drilled when the predator has sufficient choice of prey, consistent with the tenets of the associational resistance. The preference of choosing the non-encrusted prey, however, diminishes with fewer available prey. The handling time is significantly higher in the attacks on the encrusted prey than non-encrusted prey, even though the barnacles are not drilled. Although the proximity of the drilling site to encrustation tends to increase the handling time, the size of encrustation does not have any effect. Because the profitability of prey largely depends on the ratio of handling time and the energetic yield from consuming the prey, the increase in handling time due to encrustation makes it less profitable for the predator. The role of encrustation as a deterrent to predation might also explain the complex shell architecture in some prey gastropods that increases the likelihood of encrustation besides providing direct resistance against predation.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2019

Effectiveness of micromorphy against drilling predation: Insights from early Miocene faunal assemblage of Quilon limestone, India

The nature of drilling predation, although well documented for molluscan fossils, is understudied for micromolluscs (<5mm). Studying predation in micromolluscs is especially critical in evaluating the adaptive significance of micromorphy against predation and assessing the importance of predator-prey size relationship (PPSR). This study documents drilling predation event in microbivalves from early Miocene (Burdigalian) fossil assemblage of Quilon limestone from Kerala, India. Our sample of ~2000 valves represent nine families with an average drilling frequency (DF) of 0.06 and an incomplete drilling frequency (IDF) of 0.26. The characteristic drillhole morphology and occurrence of five genera of modern drilling gastropods (Naticid: Natica, Tanea and Polinices; Muricid: Triplex and Dermomurex) from the same locality reveals the predator identity. Predation in the studied assemblage is found to be highly selective in terms of prey taxa, size, mobility and site selection. Six out of nine families show evidence of predation indicating taxon selectivity. Poor correlation between DF and abundance further supports this view. Failed attacks are strongly correlated with morphological features such as surface ornamentation (Lucinidae), presence of conchiolin layers (Corbulidae). Drilling occurs primarily on medium size class and prey outside this size range show lower rate of attack. This indicates the existence of an “inverse size refugia” for extremely small prey along with the classical size refugia existing for large prey. Mobility is found to be a deterrent to drilling predation and it also increases failure. Microbenthos of Quilon limestone shows a lower predation intensity in comparison to the Miocene macrobenthos worldwide including coeval formation of the Kutch Basin. The interaction in microbenthos is more strongly size-dependent in contrast to the Kutch fauna. Reduced predation intensity in microfauna and existence of “inverse size refugia” support the claim of micromorphy acting as a defense mechanism and highlights the role of size-dependent predation in marine benthos.

paleontology↗

bioRxiv2018

Absence of general rules governing molluscan body-size response to climatic fluctuation during Cenozoic

Body size is a key factor in dictating the fate of interaction between an organism and its surrounding environment. A negative temperature-size relationship (TSR) has been suggested as one of the universal responses to climatic warming. It is also predicted that groups with narrow latitudinal range, tropical affinity and higher body size, would show higher sensitivity to climatic fluctuation. Moreover, because of the difference in thermal sensitivity, it is also expected that the response to climatic fluctuation would be different between epifaunal and infaunal groups. To confirm the generality of these relationship among marine families, we compiled the relationship between body-size and global temperature trends over Cenozoic using a database of marine benthic molluscs of class gastropoda and bivalvia resolved to temporal stages. We evaluated the dependence of climate induced body-size response to the existing size and latitudinal spread via correlating the first-difference correlation coefficient of temperature-size ({rho}1st (size-temp)) with maximum size and latitudinal spread of family respectively. Cenozoic record of this highly diverse group does not show any signature of TSR for molluscan class or for any other regional, ecological groups during the past 66My long climatic fluctuation. We did not find any evidence supporting heightened response to climatic fluctuation in groups with limited latitudinal spread or with large body-size. The tropical species did not show significant difference in their body-size response in comparison to temperate species. It also shows lack of any difference in response between ecological groups of molluscs with varying substrate relationship and hence, refutes the predicted variation due to difference in thermal specialization. Although a negative correlation between maximum latitudinal spread and {rho}1st (size-temp) is observed for infaunal families, it is not statistically significant. Our results highlight the limited validity of \"universal rules\" in explaining the climate induced morphological response of marine communities in deep time and underscores the complexity in generalizing the biotic outcome of future climatic fluctuation.

paleontology↗

bioRxiv2016

Metagenomic Characteristics of Bacterial Response to Petroleum Hydrocarbon Contamination in Diverse Environments as Revealed by Functional Taxonomic Strategies

Microbial remediation of oil polluted habitats remains one of the foremost methods for restoration of petroleum hydrocarbon contaminated environments. The development of effective bioremediation strategies however, require an extensive understanding of the resident microbiome of these habitats. Recent developments such as high-throughput sequencing has greatly facilitated the advancement of microbial ecological studies in oil polluted habitats. However, effective interpretation of biological characteristics from these large datasets remains a considerable challenge. In this study, we have implemented recently developed bioinformatic tools for analyzing 65 publicly available 16S rRNA datasets from 12 diverse hydrocarbon polluted habitats to decipher metagenomic characteristics of bacterial communities of the same. We have comprehensively described phylogenetic and functional compositions of these habitats and additionally inferred a multitude of metagenomic features including 255 taxa and 414 functional modules which can be used as biomarkers for effective distinction between the 12 oil polluted sites. We have identified essential metabolic signatures and also showed that significantly over-represented taxa often contribute to either or both, hydrocarbon degradation and additional important functions. Our findings reveal significant differences between hydrocarbon contaminated sites and establishes the importance of endemic factors in addition to petroleum hydrocarbons as driving factors for sculpting hydrocarbon contaminated bacteriomes.

microbiology↗