Alkaloids and ascidian chemical defense: Evidence for the ecological role of natural products fromEudistoma olivaceum

The surface of the colonial ascidianEudistoma olivaceum (Van Name) is almost completely free of fouling organisms. I provide evidence that this epibiont-free surface is maintained by the alkaloids, Eudistomins G and H. These alkaloids were extracted from colonies collected in the shallow subtidal of Indian River Lagoon, Florida. USA, in November 1987. Concentrations of less than one-fifth of those found in the living ascidian inhibited the settlement of the larvae of five invertebrate species relative to appropriate controls in laboratory and field trials. Standard pharmacological assays have revealed that Eudistomins G and H were not the most biologically active of the eudistomins, indicating that these standard assays are not necessarily good predictors of antifouling activity. In an examination of possible alternate roles for these eudistomins, they proved ineffective as a fish antifeedant. PinfishLagadon rhomboides consumed agar pellets to which Eudistomins G and H had been added at concentrations 10- to 100-fold higher than those effective against settling larvae. These findings indicate that biologically active marine natural products may serve specific ecological roles.