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Grazing by the gastropod, Lacuna vincta, in the lower intertidal area at Musquash Head, New Brunswick, Canada

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 October 2009

Martin L. H. Thomas  and
Frederick H. Page
Martin L. H. Thomas
Affiliation:
Division of Sciences, University of New Brunswick, P.O. Box 5050, Saint John, New Brunswick, CanadaE2L 4L5
Frederick H. Page
Affiliation:
Division of Sciences, University of New Brunswick, P.O. Box 5050, Saint John, New Brunswick, CanadaE2L 4L5
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Abstract

Lacuna vincta appeared at Musquash Head, New Brunswick, in large numbers from June to August 1981 principally on lower midlittoral and infralittoral fringe Fucus edentatus. The population reached a mean maximum of 280/m2 in June; by mid September the animals had disappeared. The L. vincta grazed heavily and deposited egg masses on Fucus edentatus but little on other species. All fine and filamentous and encrusting algal species and rock were avoided for egg deposition. Egg mass abundance peaked with the population in June with a mean of 180/m2. Mean egg production in June was 83000/m2.

Both snail and egg mass distributions were correlated with the percentage cover of F. edentatus, reaching a maximum at 40–75 cm above mean low tide level.

The snails ranged in length from 2–7 mm, consisting of three cohorts from different larval settlements. Growth was rapid in July averaging 0·6 mm/month slowing later.

The food plant Fucus edentatus showed a heavy impact of the herbivore. Weight reductions attributable to grazing rose from 56 % in June to 79 % in August and grazed plants tended to thicken rather than elongate with growth. Grazing removed about 79 % of the net production of F. edentatus which averaged 61 g dry wt/m2/day. The impact of the L. vincta population on F. edentatus seems extraordinarily severe.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 63 , Issue 3 , August 1983 , pp. 725 - 736
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1983

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