The Ecology of Lough Ine

Ebling, F. J.; Kitching, J. A.; Muntz, Louise; Taylor, C. Mary

doi:10.2307/2349

Cited by 118 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Smith (1981) chose the area of the shell aperture as the best measure of shell shape and observed that aperture size was directly related to wave exposure in L. saxatilis and L. rudis. A similar finding was also observed in N. lapillus where the size of the foot had a direct relationship with aperture size, and thinness of shell lip with vulnerability to successful crab predation (Ebling et al 1964;Kitching, Muntz & Ebling, 1966). These studies indicated that the larger sizes of the aperture and foot were determined by the greater power of adhesion required for life on wave-exposed shores where crab attack was less likely.…”

Section: Shell Geometry and Functional Significancesupporting

confidence: 72%

A geometric analysis of growth in gastropod shells, with particular reference to turbinate forms

Ekaratne¹,

Crisp²

1983

J. Mar. Biol. Ass.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Nucella lapillus and Littorina littorea afford examples of turbinately coiled shells with no space between the columella and the inner face of the whorls. Three constants are sufficient to determine the form of such shells: λ, the ratio between diameters of successive whorls; β, the semi-apical angle and ρ, the ratio of aperture length and breadth in the apertural plane passing through the axis. The variation of these three constants with size was examined and shown to be relatively small and insignificant in Nucella, but in Littorina it was significant.For Nucella and Littorina these shell characteristics were used to relate for the nth whorl, the length along the shell spiral (ln) to the shell height (Hn), the latter being the measure usually employed in growth studies. This relation was derived mathematically and confirmed empirically aswhere α is the angle of the logarithmic spiral given by α = tan−1 2π sin β/loge λ. The increased resolution of the micro-growth band increments, which are measured along the shell spiral was directly related to the ln:Hn ratios.Since the formula for the ln/Hn ratio (= shell conversion factor) includes λ, β and ρ, the three constants necessary to determine shell form in turbinately coiled shells of the type described, the shell conversion factor may be a better index of shell shape than indices based on a single constant. In species where the shell grows isometrically this ratio will remain constant, whereas changes in shell shape with size will influence this ratio. Such changes in shell shape during growth can be quantified in terms of the shell constants and when included in calculating the shell conversion factor, will show the relative magnitude of shell shape changes brought about by growth. The shell conversion factor may also be used to study the effects of ecological variations on the geometry of the shell.The conical shell of the limpet, Patella vulgata, is geometrically a much simpler system in which direct shell measurements were used to relate length along the direction of maximum growth to the antero-posterior diameter of aperture.

show abstract

Section: Shell Geometry and Functional Significancesupporting

confidence: 72%

A geometric analysis of growth in gastropod shells, with particular reference to turbinate forms

Ekaratne¹,

Crisp²

1983

J. Mar. Biol. Ass.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Direct feeding on Mytilus edulisis often observed (Scherer & Reise 1981). In cage experiments 3 size groups of mussels were fed to C. maenas (up to 57 mm carapace width; Ebling et al 1964). Mussels of the largest group (>45 mm) were almost spared, from the medium sized group (25 to 37 mm) only very few mussels were taken, whereas in the smallest group (< 21 mm) the most intense feeding was observed.…”

Section: Production Of Associated Macrofaunamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this study the secondary production was calculated for each size class of each species of benthic macrofauna of an intertidal mussel bed community. The size spectra of prey preferred by predators are known (Voous 1962, Ebling et al 1964, Milne & Dunnet 1972, Swennen 1976) and thus the part of production utilized by predators could be estimated.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Secondary production of an intertidal mussel bed community related to its storage and turnover compartments

Asmus¹

1987

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

121

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Macrofaunal b~o n~a s s and production were studied at 6 sites on an intertidal mussel bed in the northern Wadden Sea near the island of Sylt (North Sea) in 1984 Mean biornass of the community w a s about 25 times h~g h e r (1243 g AFDW m-') than in other commumties of the Wadden Sea Of t h s biomass, 97 % was represented by the mussel M y t~l u s e d u l~s L Although associated fauna had a share of only 3 %, their absolute biomass of 35 g AFDW m-' is in the range reported for other intertidal communities of the Wadden Sea Annual producbon of the rnacrofaunal community (468 g AFDW m-2 yr-') was dominated by n~ussels (436 g AFDW m-2 yr-') P/B-rabo was very low for the total community (0 36) Annual production of associated macrofauna was much lower (31 g AFDW m-'yr-') but the P/Bratio (0 89) indicates a higher turnover rate Suspension feeders had the greatest share in secondary production followed by grazers Predators and detr~tus feeders were of lesser importance Biomass and production of individuals of higher mass dominated overwhelmingly over smaller size groups The main productive potential of the communlty is formed by the larger size classes These are of only minimal importance for predation Therefore the communlty can be divided into 2 functional compartn~ents (1) a storage compartment with a high productive potenbal leading to further increase in biomass or being spent for metabolic and reproductive requirements and (2) a turnover compartment with relatively low biomass and production but higher turnover The production of the turnover compartment is available to most predators

show abstract

“…Little work has been done on the potential role of crabs as predators on mussels in northeast Pacific rocky reef ecosystems, but see [ 18 ]. It has long been established that crabs can be an important driver of mortality and the intertidal zonation of mussels on wave-protected rocky reefs in Atlantic ecosystems [ 19 – 23 ] and we hypothesize that they are likely to play a similar ecological role on Pacific rocky reefs, particularly in wave-protected locations. For example, large cancrid crabs, like Cancer productus , have been shown to migrate from subtidal regions into the intertidal zone to feed, and are thought to limit the vertical distribution of littorine gastropods [ 24 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can crabs kill like a keystone predator? A field-test of the effects of crab predation on mussel mortality on a northeast Pacific rocky shore

Hull

Bourdeau

2017

PLoS ONE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Predation can strongly influence community structure and ecosystem function, so the loss of key predators can have dramatic ecological consequences, unless other predatory species in the system are capable of playing similar ecological roles. In light of the recent outbreak of sea star wasting disease (SSWD) and subsequent depletion of west coast sea star populations, including those of the keystone predator Pisaster ochraceus, we examined whether large mobile crabs could play a role as predators on mussels (Mytilus californianus) on a rocky shore in Northern California. Using a combination of sea star removal and predator exclusion cages we found that mussel mortality was 43–294 times greater in uncaged treatments versus caged treatments. Mortality on uncaged mussels at low tidal elevations was due to predation by large mobile crabs (Cancer productus and Romaleon antennarium); confirmed by the presence of mussel shell fragments and documented attacks on wax snail replicas. Laboratory feeding assays indicated that crabs, on a per unit biomass basis, can consume almost twenty-five times as many mussels per day than sea stars, which together with the results of our field experiment, suggest that large predatory crabs could play an important role in maintaining ecosystem function through their predation on mussels on rocky shores where P. ochraceus are rare, absent, or have been depleted by SSWD.

show abstract

The Ecology of Lough Ine

Cited by 118 publications

References 0 publications

A geometric analysis of growth in gastropod shells, with particular reference to turbinate forms

A geometric analysis of growth in gastropod shells, with particular reference to turbinate forms

Secondary production of an intertidal mussel bed community related to its storage and turnover compartments

Can crabs kill like a keystone predator? A field-test of the effects of crab predation on mussel mortality on a northeast Pacific rocky shore

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About