Abstract
Laboratory experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of wave-induced oscillatory flow and temperature on feeding by the rabbitfish Siganus fuscescens on the kelp Ecklonia cava or Eisenia bicyclis. With a constant temperature of 20℃, feeding rates were very low from July to August and then increased until November. When feeding activity was highest, oscillating flow reduced feeding to 50% at the velocity amplitude of l.lm/s and to nil at ca 1.5m/s. An experiment with variable temperatures showed that temperature threshold for initiating feeding on kelp were variable with time, from 23℃ in late July to 17℃ in early November. Once reached maximal, feeding rate remained high until temperature was lower than 19℃ and then decreases to zero at 16℃. Contrary to expectations, the experimental results and wave-induced water velocity predictions lead to the conclusion that destructive feeding by S. fuscescens on kelp is very unlikely to be inhibited by waves on the Pacific coast of central Honshu, requiring further studies of the feeding ecology of S. fuscescens.
