Influence of predator–prey evolutionary history, chemical alarm-cues, and feeding selection on induction of toxin production in a marine dinoflagellate

The dinoflagellate, Alexandrium fundyense, produces paralytic shellfish toxins and co-occurs with populations of the copepod, Acartia hudsonica, from Maine, but not New Jersey. The hypothesis that history of co-occurrence between predator and prey effects the ability of prey to recognize and respond to predators with increased toxin production was tested for this copepod-alga interaction. When A. fundyense was exposed to waterborne cues released by copepods from Maine (indirect exposure) that were either starved or fed toxic cells, cell toxin quota increased by 35% compared to unexposed controls. The induced response was significantly less for cells exposed to waterborne cues of copepods from New Jersey, and induction (20%) was only elicited by this population when fed toxic cells. These results suggest that A. fundyense responded to a kairomone from copepods from Maine, but required a feeding cue from copepods from New Jersey. An increase of approximately 300% in cell toxin quota, however, occurred when cells were directly exposed to grazing, and was independent of copepod population. Evolutionary history, therefore, had no apparent effect when induction was underlain by feeding cues. In assays with a mixture of toxic and nontoxic cells, selection for the latter was evident, and also independent of copepod population. Selectivity for nontoxic cells, however, could not account for changes in cell toxin content in the mixture experiments. When A. fundyense was exposed to extracts of toxic or nontoxic Alexandrium, toxin production increased significantly (23%), suggesting modest induction by an alga-to-alga alarm signal.