Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-8bljj Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-02T09:12:00.605Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A laboratory study of predation by the dog-whelk Nucella lapillus on the barnacles Elminius modestus and Balanus balanoides

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

B. E. Barnett
B. E. Barnett
Affiliation:
N.E.R.C. Unit Of Marine Invertebrate Biology, Marine Science Laboratories, Menai Bridge, Gwynedd
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Predation of the barnacles Balanus balanoides and Elminius modestus by the common dog-whelk, Nucella lapillus was studied in the laboratory. Greater numbers of B. balanoides were taken as prey unless the whelks had been previously subjected to an extensive period of starvation.

Selective predation is discussed in the light of similar studies on Nucella and related predatory species. The effects of prey selection on the competitive interactions of the prey species are also considered.

The method of predatory attack involves either a drilling or a prizing technique. The latter is used predominantly when Nucella attacks E. modestus, whereas drilling is employed to a far greater extent when attacking B. balanoides. Attacks using the drilling technique are usually made at the occludent margins of the opercular valves.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 59 , Issue 2 , May 1979 , pp. 299 - 306
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1979

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Barnes, H. & Barnes, M., 1962. The growth rate of Elminius modestus (Crust., Cirripedia) in Scotland. Internationale Revue der gesamten Hydrobiologie, 47, 481–486.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chew, K., 1960. Study of food preference and rate of feeding of Japanese oyster drill, Ocinebra japonica (Dunker). Special Scientific Report. United States Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service (Fisheries), no. 365, 27 pp.Google Scholar
Connell, J. H., 1961a. Effects of competition, predation by Thais lapillus, and other factors on natural populations of the barnacle Balanus balanoides. Ecological Monographs, 31, 61–104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Connell, J. H., 1961b. The influence of interspecific competition and other factors on the distribution of the barnacle Chthamalus stellatus. Ecology, 42, 710–723.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Connell, J. H., 1970. A predator-prey system in the marine intertidal region. I. Balanusglandula and several predatory species of Thais. Ecological Monographs, 40, 49–78.Google Scholar
Crisp, D. J., 1958. The spread of Elminius modestus in north-west Europe. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 37, 483–520.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Galtsoff, P. S., Prytherch, H. F. & Engle, J. B., 1937. Natural history and methods of controlling the common oyster drills (Urosalpinx cinerea, Say and Eupleura caudata, Say). Fishery Circular. Bureau of Fisheries, U.S., no. 25, 24 pp.Google Scholar
Largen, M. J., 1967a. The diet of the dog-whelk, Nucella lapillus (Gastropoda: Prosobranchia). Journal of Zoology, 151, 123–127.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Largen, M. J., 1967b. The influence of water temperature upon the life of the dog-whelk Thais lapillus (Gastropoda: Prosobranchia). Journal of Animal Ecology, 36, 207–214.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Menge, B. A., 1973. Effect of predation and environmental patchiness on the body size of a tropical pulmonate limpet. Veliger, 16, 87–92.Google Scholar
Moore, H. B., 1938. The biology of Purpura lapillus. Part III. Life history and relation to environmental factors. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 23, 67–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morgan, P. R., 1972. The influence of prey availability on the distribution and predatory behaviour of Nucella lapillus (L). Journal of Animal Ecology, 41, 257–274.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paine, R. T., 1966. Food web complexity and species diversity. American Naturalist, 100, 65–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pilsbry, H. A., 1916. The sessile barnacles (Cirripedia) contained in the collection of the U.S. National Museum including a monograph of the American species. Bulletin. Smithsonian Institution, United States National Museum, no. 93, 366 pp.Google Scholar
Potts, G. W., 1970. The ecology of Onchidoris fusca [Nudibranchia]. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 50, 269–292.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pratt, D. M., 1974. Attraction to prey and stimulus to attack in the predatory gastropod Urosalpinx cinerea. Marine Biology, 27, 37–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Snedecor, G. W. & Cochran, W. G., 1967. Statistical Methods, 6th edition, xiv, 593 pp. Iowa State University Press.Google Scholar
Utida, S., 1953. Interspecific competition between two species of bean weevil. Ecology, 34, 301–307.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wood, D., 1968. Physiological and ecological aspects of prey selection by the marine gastropod Urosalpinx cinerea (Prosobranchia: Muricidae). Malacologia, 6, 267–320.Google Scholar