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Settlement and growth of the intertidal gastropod, Melarhaphe neritoides, on the south coast of Ireland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

A. A. Myers  and
David McGrath
A. A. Myers
Affiliation:
Zoology Department, University College, Cork, Ireland.
David McGrath
Affiliation:
Zoology Department, The Martin Ryan Marine Science Institute, University College Galwayand Department of Life Sciences, Regional Technical College, Galway, Ireland
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Extract

Settlement and growth of Melarhaphe neritoides (L. ) were studied on two rocky shores, at Carnsore Point, County Wexford and Tragumna, County Cork, on the south coast of Ireland during the years 1977–1978 and 1983–1991 respectively. Settlement occurred in each year but varied in timing and density, with maxima of 30,000 m-2 at Tragumna and 3,800 m-2 at Carnsore Point. Recently settled individuals occurred in pools in the Verrucaria zone and on open rock below this level. Growth of the 0+ and 1+ cohorts was determined by analysis of length frequency distributions. Growth of older snails was estimated by measuring growth increments in marked animals. Recruits grew to less than 2 mm in shell height in their first year. Larger snails (>2 mm shell height) grew 0. 2–0. 3 mm shell height per year. It is estimated that M. neritoides takes over five years to reach a shell height of 3 mm at Tragumna.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 73 , Issue 2 , May 1993 , pp. 313 - 319
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1993

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