Periwinkle (Gastropoda: Littorinidae) habitat selection and its impact upon microalgal populations

Abstract

The present study examines habitat selection and grazing pressure of the periwinkle Nodilittorina lineolata (Gmelin, 1791) on the rocky shore of Arraial do Cabo, RJ, Brazil (lat. 23°S, long. 43°W). Transfer experiments suggest that periwinkles actively select the mid intertidal, where the cirripede Chthamalus bisinuatus Pilsbry is the dominant sessile invertebrate. We also conducted a caging experiment in the middle intertidal, manipulating grazers and light, to assess the impact of grazing upon microalgal density. Grazing pressure significantly reduced microalgal abundance at the midintertidal level, suggesting that food availability plays an important role in the habitat selection of periwinkles on the studied shore.Key words: Brazil, habitat selection, intertidal, Littorinidae, microalgae. RESUMO Seleção de hábitat de gastrópodes Littorinidae e seu impacto sobre populações de microalgasO presente estudo examina seleção do hábitat e pressão de herbivoria pelo gastrópode Nodilittorina lineolata (Gmelin, 1791) no costão rochoso de Arraial do Cabo, RJ, Brasil (lat. 23°S, long. 43°W). Experimentos de transferência sugerem que os gastrópodos selecionam ativamente a região do médio-litoral, em que o cirripédio Chthamalus bisinuatus Pilsbry é o invertebrado séssil dominante. Nós também conduzimos um experimento de exclusão, com gaiolas, no médio-litoral, manipulando os herbívoros e luz, para acessar o impacto da herbivoria sobre a densidade de microalgas. A pressão de herbivoria reduziu significativamente a abundância de microalgas no médiolitoral, sugerindo que a disponibilidade de alimento exerce um papel importante na seleção do hábitat dos gastrópodos estudados.Palavras-chave: Brasil, Littorinidae, microalgas, seleção de hábitat.

Environmental and grazing influence on spatial variability of intertidal biofilm on subtropical rocky shores

“…Although there are studies on the role of biofilm as an important component in intertidal systems around the world (e.g. Australia : Underwood 1984a,b, MacLulich 1986, 1987, Jackson et al 2010; South Africa: Dye & White 1991, Kaehler & Froneman 2002Europe: Hill & Hawkins 1991, Thompson et al 2004North America: Nicotri 1977;Hong Kong: Nagarkar et al 2004, Nagarkar & Williams 1997, 1999, Williams 1994, Williams et al 2000, it is an almost unresearched assemblage on rocky shores in the southwest Atlantic (but see Apolinario et al 1999).…”

Benthic Community zonation in a breakwater on the north coast of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

“…The grazer L. ziczac appeared amongst the cirripedes but not as abundant as on the littoral fringe, which was usually called "Littorinid zone". However, Apolinário et al (1999) observed that littorinids were much more abundant in the middle-intertidal zone aggregating amongst cirripedes. The grazing limpet Collisella subrugosa, commonly found in this zone, was also mentioned as an abundant archiogastropod in the Brazilian coast, occurring from the tropical northeast up to the subtropical southeast coast (Rios, 1995apud Tanaka, 2001.…”

“…This band was characterized by a higher coverage of grazing gastropods, Littorina spp, which were also found over a large extension in the Western Atlantic (Coelho et al, 2004). The ecological importance of these grazers is related to the control of microalgal populations (Apolinário et al, 1999). Aggregation, selection of habitat, decreasing shell pigmentation and increased/decreased shell ornamentation are some adaptations of Littorina to survive in this harsh environment where the desiccation stress is the highest (Chapman and Underwood, 1996).…”

“…The vertical distribution of these bands is related mainly to a gradient of emersion/desiccation and also to others physical and biological factors, including wave exposure (Lewis, 1964, Underwood, 1981Araújo et al, 2005), tidal dynamics (Denny and Paine, 1998), temperature (Tomanek and Helmuth, 2002), salinity (Zacharias et al, 2001), substrate orientation (Chapman and Bulleri, 2003), topography heterogeneity (Archambault and Bourget, 1996;Cusson and Bourget, 1997;Guichard and Borget, 1998;Guichard et al, 2001), predation andcompetition (Connell, 1961), disturbance and succession (Souza, 1979), grazing (Apolinário et al, 1999, Bulleri et al, 2000 and recruitment (Forde and Raimondi, 2004;Skinner and Coutinho, 2005). Their relative importance is hard to generalize, due to the frequently high number of potential factors involved and, mainly, due to their interactions (Little and Kitching, 1996).…”

Morphometric analysis of the shell of the intertidal gastropod Echinolittorina lineolata (d'Orbigny, 1840) at different latitudes along the Brazilian coast

“…The latitude, in association with other factors, can directly influence the size of the gastropods (Linse et al, 2006). These factors may include body temperature (Chapperon et al, 2013;Seuront & Ng, 2016), food availability (Apolinário et al, 1999), density-dependent intraspecific competition (Magalhães, 1998) and phenotypic plasticity (Hollander et al, 2006). According to Bernardino et al (2015), the extreme conditions of El Niño, combined with long-term global warming, can lead to thermal stress on benthic assemblages found in the mid-latitudes of the tropics, and short-term osmotic stress of those organisms found in the estuaries of south-eastern Brazil.…”