Feeding Ecology and Radular Morphology of the Freshwater Limpet Ferrissia fragilis

Blinn, W.; Pickart, Anne

doi:10.2307/1467327

Cited by 35 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 16 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Diatoms of the genus Epithemia, which dominate the epiphyte flora in late summer at the Eel River (Furey et al, 2012), are rich in protein and lipids relative to other periphyton (Furey et al, 2014;Kupferberg et al, 1994). Epithemia-rich diets promote rapid growth and development of a wide variety of aquatic grazers including insects (Gresens, 1997;Power et al, 2009), snails (Blinn, Truitt, & Pickart, 1989) and tadpoles (Kupferberg, 1997). Our results suggest that when high-quality food is efficiently assimilated, it partially offsets the negative effect of cool temperature.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 76%

“…The per cent organic content of material in the anterior small intestine at c. 19°C was significantly lower at the warm site compared to the cooler sites ( Figure 4a). Epithemia-rich diets promote rapid growth and development of a wide variety of aquatic grazers including insects (Gresens, 1997;Power et al, 2009), snails (Blinn, Truitt, & Pickart, 1989) and tadpoles (Kupferberg, 1997). The improvement in efficiency from the cool to the warm treatment was more pronounced for tadpoles eating epilithic diatoms and green algae (6.6 AE 0.4% to 11.6 AE 0.1%) than those with access to highly nutritious floating mats of green algae epiphytised by Epithemia (10.1 AE 0.1% and 13.8 AE 0.1%).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Consequences of dam‐altered thermal regimes for a riverine herbivore's digestive efficiency, growth and vulnerability to predation

Catenazzi

Kupferberg

2018

Freshwater Biology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Rivers around the world are undergoing shifts in thermal regime due to climate change and human appropriation of water resources. The local impacts of thermal regime change are challenging to predict because water temperature can influence aquatic organisms and communities at multiple levels simultaneously. For example, thermal change can influence the phenology of periphyton blooms, primary consumer physiology and behaviour, and interspecific interactions with predators. Using tadpoles of the threatened river‐breeding foothill yellow‐legged frog (Rana boylii, Ranidae), their algal foods and their invertebrate predators, we mimicked dam‐induced changes in temperature and observed the outcome of consumer–resource interactions. In stream enclosures, we reared tadpoles across a gradient of cold to warm conditions, quantified the ash content of diet, digestive efficiency and growth rate, and assessed their vulnerability to hemipteran and odonate predators. Tadpoles reared in a cool stream (15.5°C daily mean) digested epilithic periphyton poorly (6.6 ± 0.4% assimilation efficiency). In contrast, average assimilation efficiency of tadpoles reared at 19°C was 11.6 ± 0.1%. Access to nutritious diatoms (i.e. dinitrogen‐fixing Epithemia spp., Rhopalodiaceae) increased assimilation efficiency to 10.1 ± 0.1% and 13.8 ± 0.1% in the cool and warm treatments, respectively. Assimilation efficiency correlated positively with tadpole growth rate (R = 0.66, p < .001). The effect of temperature on mortality due to predation was mediated by low tadpole growth rates at cool temperatures and not by the temperature of predator exposure. Non‐lethal effects of predators on tadpole growth and tail injury, however, depended on both rearing temperature and exposure temperature. Contrary to the expectation that the cost of predator avoidance behaviours may be greater at warmer exposure temperatures because basal metabolic rates are higher, our results indicated that the energetic cost of foraging less was amplified at cool temperatures. Our results show that when thermal conditions impair digestion in a species’ early life stages, recruitment bottlenecks are likely to arise due to the combined negative effects of cool temperatures on assimilation efficiency and growth, and increased predation by invertebrates.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 76%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Consequences of dam‐altered thermal regimes for a riverine herbivore's digestive efficiency, growth and vulnerability to predation

Catenazzi

Kupferberg

2018

Freshwater Biology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Also, Lodge et al (1987) proposed that, given strong passive dispersal powers and the availability of adequate calcium, the next potential factor determining successful colonization is availability of adequate substratum, as well as food. The lack of spring snails on submerged vegetation may also relate to competition with the abundant, larger P. virgata on the vegetation, although Blinn, Truitt, & Pickart (1989) reported that the small limpet grazer, Ferrisia fragilis (Tryon) grazed on more adnate diatoms than the larger Physa in another spring system in northern Arizona. In contrast, submerged vegetation is smooth with minimal microtopographic features.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In contrast, submerged vegetation is smooth with minimal microtopographic features. The lack of spring snails on submerged vegetation may also relate to competition with the abundant, larger P. virgata on the vegetation, although Blinn, Truitt, & Pickart (1989) reported that the small limpet grazer, Ferrisia fragilis (Tryon) grazed on more adnate diatoms than the larger Physa in another spring system in northern…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The endemic spring snail Pyrgulopsis montezumensis in a high CO₂ environment: Importance of extreme chemical habitats as refugia

O’Brien

Blinn

1999

Freshwater Biology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

1. We examined the distribution of the endemic spring snail, Pyrgulopsis montezumensis, along a gradient of dissolved free CO2 and on selected substrata in the collapsed travertine springmound of Montezuma Well, Arizona, U.S.A. 2. Dissolved CO2 concentration ranged from 480 (SE ± 56) mg L−−1 near the bottom spring vents in the limnetic zone (12 m deep) of the well to < 20 mg L−−1 in an irrigation canal about 1400 m downstream from the well outlet. Spring snails occurred in habitats with 110–315 mg L−−1 dissolved CO2. 3. Laboratory experiments showed that P. montezumensis tolerated a dissolved CO2 concentration up to about 400 mg L−−1 for 11 days, but displayed 40% (SE ± 4) mortality after 3 days at 728 mg L−−1 and 100% mortality after 24 h at 1200 mg L−−1. We also measured 100% mortality after 10 days at ambient concentrations (< 10 mg L−−1) of dissolved CO2. 4. Although the concentration of dissolved CO2 was within the tolerance range for spring snails in the irrigation canal, inadequate substrata and increased predation probably restricted their distribution in the lower reaches of the canal. Both field measurements and laboratory selection experiments showed a significant (P < 0.001) preference for limestone substrata over submerged vegetation and fine sediments. 5. We propose that springs with high dissolved CO2 may provide refugia from invertebrate and/or vertebrate predators not physiologically adjusted to the extreme chemical environment. These extreme chemical habitats probably reduce competition for resources and predation and allow resistant populations like P. montezumensis to attain high density.

show abstract

“…The well-studied Ferrissia rivularis of North America reaches maximum abundances on stones in rivers, streams, and the littoral zone of lakes (Burky 1971, Keating andPrezant 1998) where it grazes on periphytic algae, especially diatoms. Ferrissia fragilis (Tryon 1863) more commonly inhabits macrophytes and organic debris in lentic environments (McMahon 1976, Jokinen 1978, although its apparent preference for diatoms is similar (Blinn et al 1989).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetics, Shell Morphology, and Life History of the Freshwater Pulmonate LimpetsFerrissia rivularisandFerrissia fragilis

Dillon

Herman

2009

Journal of Freshwater Ecology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The weak and variable nature of the shell morphometric criteria by which the North American ancylid limpets Ferrissia rivularis and Ferrissia fragilis are distinguished has led to speculation that they may be ecophenotypic variants. The shells of F. rivularis that we collected from a rocky river in the upper piedmont of South Carolina were significantly higher and wider per length than those of an F. fragilis population collected from a weedy ditch in the coastal plain. Both populations laid singleton eggs approximately 0.6 mm diameter in culture, hatching in one week and maturing in four-five weeks at 2.0 -3.0 mm shell length. Adult F. rivularis reared in our laboratory environment were morphologically indistinguishable from F. fragilis, suggesting that the differences in shell shape displayed by their wild-collected parents may have little additive genetic component. Both populations were fixed for identical allozyme alleles at nine loci, with two alleles segregating at a tenth, IsdhF. The absence of ZsdhF heterozygotes in wild-collected samples of 104 F. rivularis individuals (p = 0.52, q = 0.48) and 102 F. fragilis individuals (p = 0.14, q = 0.86), together with no evidence of outcrossing in laboratory breeding experiments, suggests obligate selffertilization. Thus in the absence of any reliable morphological distinction, we propose that F. fragilis be considered a junior synonym of F. rivularis.

show abstract

Feeding Ecology and Radular Morphology of the Freshwater Limpet Ferrissia fragilis

Cited by 35 publications

References 16 publications

Consequences of dam‐altered thermal regimes for a riverine herbivore's digestive efficiency, growth and vulnerability to predation

Consequences of dam‐altered thermal regimes for a riverine herbivore's digestive efficiency, growth and vulnerability to predation

The endemic spring snail Pyrgulopsis montezumensis in a high CO₂ environment: Importance of extreme chemical habitats as refugia

Genetics, Shell Morphology, and Life History of the Freshwater Pulmonate LimpetsFerrissia rivularisandFerrissia fragilis

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Feeding Ecology and Radular Morphology of the Freshwater Limpet Ferrissia fragilis

Cited by 35 publications

References 16 publications

Consequences of dam‐altered thermal regimes for a riverine herbivore's digestive efficiency, growth and vulnerability to predation

Consequences of dam‐altered thermal regimes for a riverine herbivore's digestive efficiency, growth and vulnerability to predation

The endemic spring snail Pyrgulopsis montezumensis in a high CO2 environment: Importance of extreme chemical habitats as refugia

Genetics, Shell Morphology, and Life History of the Freshwater Pulmonate LimpetsFerrissia rivularisandFerrissia fragilis

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

The endemic spring snail Pyrgulopsis montezumensis in a high CO₂ environment: Importance of extreme chemical habitats as refugia