アマクサアメフラシの化学防御

摘要

Sea hares Aplysia juliana secrete white ink instead of purple ink that is common for other sea hares. The white ink alone does not suppress feeding behavior of Japanese spiny lobster Panulirus japonicus, but the skin of the A. juliana does. A. juliana sequester secondary metabolites, DMSP and acrylate, from green algae Ulva spp. in its skin and secretes these compounds when mechanicaliy stressed in a way that mimics bites by predators. These molecules and/or other unidentified molecules in their skin are part of the chemical defense system of A. juliana. Thus, A. juliana does not sequester purple pigments from red algae because it prefers other algae as food; instead, it sequesters secondary metabolites from green algae in its skin.