Sedimentary nitrogen uptake and assimilation in the temperate zooxanthellate sea anemone Anthopleura aureoradiata

The sea anemone Anthopleura aureoradiata (Carlgren), which harbours symbiotic dinoflagellates (zooxanthellae), is abundant on mudflats and rocky shores around New Zealand. We measured the potential for particulate nitrogen uptake from sediment by A. aureoradiata and the subsequent consequences of this uptake on the nitrogen status of its zooxanthellae. Sediment was rinsed, labelled with ( 15NH 4) 2SO 4, and provided to anemones at low (0.23 g ml − 1 ) and high (1.33 g ml − 1 ) sediment loads for 6 h. Both anemone tissues and zooxanthellae became enriched with 15N. Enrichment of anemone tissues was similar at both high and low sediment loads, but the zooxanthellae became more enriched at the lower load. This was presumably because the uptake of ammonium, arising from host catabolism, by zooxanthellae is light driven and because the anemones at the lower load were able to extend their tentacles into the light while those at the higher load were not. The influence of sediment uptake on the nitrogen status of the zooxanthellae was determined by measuring the extent to which 20 μM NH 4 + enhanced the rate of zooxanthellar dark carbon fixation above that seen in filtered seawater (FSW) alone; the ammonium enhancement ratio (AER) was expressed as [dark NH 4 + rate/dark FSW rate], where ‘rate’ refers to C fixation and a ratio of 1.0 or less indicates nitrogen sufficiency. When anemones were starved with and without rinsed sediment in nitrogen-free artificial seawater for 8 weeks, zooxanthellar nitrogen deficiency became apparent at 2–4 weeks and reached similar levels in both treatments (AER = ~ 2). In contrast, anemones fed 5 times per week for 8 weeks with Artemia nauplii were nitrogen sufficient (AER = 1.03). In the field, zooxanthellae from mudflat anemones were largely nitrogen sufficient (AER = 1.26), while nitrogen deficient zooxanthellae were present in anemones from a rocky intertidal site (AER = 2.93). These results suggest that, while there was evidence for particulate nitrogen uptake, dissolved inorganic nitrogen (especially ammonium) in interstitial pore water may be a more important source of nitrogen for the zooxanthellae in mudflat anemones, and may explain the marked difference in nitrogen status between the mudflat and rocky shore populations. ► Anthopleura aureoradiata is abundant on mudflats and rocky shores in New Zealand. ► Sediment was ingested by the anemone and N transferred to its zooxanthellae. ► This nitrogen was insufficient to influen