Ingestion of quill‐worms by the astropectinid sea‐star Proserpinaster neozelanicus (Mortensen)

Abstract

Asteroid predation of the common tube‐carrying epibenthic polychaetes known as quill‐worms (Onuphidae: Hyalinoecia spp.) is recorded for the first time. Four specimens of the astropectinid Proserpinaster neozelanicus (Mortensen) from the New Zealand continental slope and lower shelf were found to have consumed the distinctive rigid tubes of up to 95 mm length, and one individual was extraordinarily packed with tubes. Proserpinaster neozelanicus and Hyalinoecia spp. records are concentrated in the 100–600 metres depth zone around New Zealand. Quill‐worms were present in the catch with the sea‐star in about half its occurrences; records of coexistence have a mean depth of 360.7 metres. The predator‐prey link among the species is discussed. © 1999 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.