The study describes the seasonal density and age structure for splashpool metapopulations of Tigriopus californicus (Copepoda: Harpacticoida). Natural populations were highly variable, ranging from 217 ± 401·7 ind 1−1 in winter (mean ± SE) to 835 ± 1750·6 ind 1−1 in summer, with some populations approaching 20,000 ind 1−1 in all seasons except winter. Male-to-female ratio ranged from 1·36 in spring and summer to 1·84 in autumn, and reproduction was observed throughout the year. Nauplii abundance averaged 28 + 7·4 ind 11, a value much lower than expected for in situ copepod populations and possibly due to behavioural processes such as cannibalism and inhibition of egg deposition. The densest assemblages of splashpool microcrustacea were almost entirely T. californicus, principally mature adults and including clasped male-female pairs and ovigerous females. A simple population growth model is presented, along with parameters for calculating the instantaneous rate of increase, birth, and death in the absence of disturbance.

The teeth of captured specimens, of prepared museum specimens, and of high-speed videotape images of the white shark, Carcharodon carcharias, were compared with respect to (1) deviation of each tooth from the animal's midline and (2) the crown angle of the functional teeth along the jaw margin. Tooth position was measured either directly using a meter stick apparatus or derived from tracings of the video footage. Tooth positions were not statistically unique in any region of the upper or lower jaw but demonstrated less variability in crown angle within 30° of the midline (71.48° ± 10°). Videotape analysis of feeding sharks indicated an 8.7° increase in crown angle of the centermost teeth during bites where the jaws were closed through an angle of 20-35° and a 15.7° reduction in this same parameter during jaw adduction through 35° or more. Such changes in tooth orientation (relative to the rear of the buccal cavity) are ascribed to flexure of the cartilaginous jaws and cranium by the cranial musculature and possibly also to sliding of the tooth bed over the jaw. Outward rotation of the teeth and jaw rami describes a plucking action during feeding or prey sampling, while larger bites rotate the frontmost teeth inward towards the gullet. Functionally, this may make the teeth more effective at grasping small prey items or gouging chunks from larger prey. However, testing of the load required to remove teeth showed no significant increase in tensile resistance with reduced crown angle. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Supralittoral splashpools representing 312,000 m2 of shoreline in Barkley Sound, British Columbia, were surveyed seasonally for tidal elevation, size, water properties, macroflora and faunal constituents coincident with colonization by Tigriopus californicus (Arthropoda: Copepoda). Overall, 90.1% of pools containing T. californicus were found between 3.0 and 5.0 m above lowest normal tide, with an average surface area-to-volume ratio of 7.06. Copepod populations were found at water temperatures of 6–33°C; salinity of <1–139 psu; pH of 6.1–9.5; and of 1.1–13.7 mg l−1 oxygen. Sediment and vegetation was sparse in T. californicus pools (mean cover 15.79±10.6% in 9.4±11.1% of pools, all species), and consisted most commonly of Enteromorpha compressa and Scytosiphon lomentaria and its Ralfsia-like alternate phase. Common fauna included mites, amphipods, littorines, and nematodes, with the highest diversity of co-inhabitants occurring in spring. Factors such as wind, wave action, and incidental fauna are discussed as potential agents of dispersal for splashpool copepods.

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