An Ecological Study of Snails of the Genus Busycon at Beaufort, North Carolina

Abstract

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ECOLOGICAL DIVERSIFICATION IN SYMPATRIC GASTROPODS OF THE GENUSBUSYCON

“…The recovery of one marked specimen out of nine collected on 4 August suggests that the nail polish used to mark the animals was not eroding rapidly. The low percentages of recovery are similar to those obtained by both Magalhaes (1948) and Menzel and Nichy (1958) for various Busycon species. The present author would interpret low returns to mean not an inordinately large local population, but rather one in which the individuals are continually interchanging throughout an extensive area of acceptable habitat.…”

“…The function of the shell in furthering attacks on such secondary food items as other gastropods and carrion is probably minimal. The Busycon feeding versatility discussed above was first noted by Colton (1908), and has been further documented by Magalhaes (1948), Carriker (1951), and Menzel and Nichy (1958).…”

Slow-moving predatory gastropods track prey odors in fast and turbulent flow

“…Knobbed whelks (Busycon carica, Gmelin) are common marine gastropods that consume bivalves, such as oysters, scallops and clams, along the eastern coast of the United States (Magalhaes, 1948;Carriker, 1951;Peterson, 1982;Walker, 1988). These predators forage on intertidal flats and creeks fringed by oyster reefs, as well as in subtidal channels that experience largely unidirectional flow (Li et al, 2004).…”

Using Marine Snails to Teach Biogeography and Macroevolution: The Role of Larvae and Dispersal Ability in the Evolution and Persistence of Species

“…For example, Frank (1969) showed that some cowries (Monetaria) and cone snails (Conus) may not move more than about five meters (16 feet) and 20 meters (66 feet), respectively, beyond their release areas over the course of a year. Magalhaes (1948) demonstrated that whelks (Busycon carica) have greater rates of movement, averaging 18 meters (59 feet) per day when they are active; but even so, the most widely ranging specimen in her study traveled only about one kilometer (0.6 miles) over the course of four months. It is known that some small species may be able to drift in ocean currents (Martel and Chia 1991), but otherwise, adult snails do not travel far enough to account for the substantial ranges of some species, which in some cases may span distances on the scale of the Indo-Pacific Ocean.…”