The cannibalistic snail<i>Agaronia propatula</i>(Caenogastropoda, Mollusca) is reluctant to feed on autotomized ‘tails’ of conspecifics

Cyrus, Ariel Z.; Peters, Winfried S.

doi:10.1080/10236244.2014.935561

Cited by 3 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…The observation of conspecific shells in the stomachs of O. minuta is also new, which could be an indication of cannibalistic behavior. Cannibalism has been previously recorded among marine gastropods (Bigatti et al, ; Cyrus & Peters, ). For instance, cannibalism was observed in 4.7% of individuals present in aggregations of the volutid snail Odomtocymbiola magelanica (Bigatti et al, ), a similar frequency as in our study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Spatial and temporal variation in the diet of the sandy beach gastropod Olivella minuta

Corte

Yokoyama

Checon

et al. 2019

Invertebrate Biology

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Marine gastropods exert a strong influence on the structure of marine ecosystems through their foraging activities, yet little is known about how environmental differences in space and time may affect their feeding behavior. To enhance the knowledge about the trophic ecology of coastal benthic species, we investigated temporal and spatial variations in the diet of the sandy beach gastropod Olivella minuta. We collected individuals of O. minuta seasonally, over 1 year, at two sandy beaches with different morphodynamic characteristics (Araçá Bay, an ultra-dissipative tidal flat, and Barequeçaba Beach, a dissipative beach) and analyzed the stomach contents of specimens of O. minuta. We identified approximately 15,000 food items, which we grouped into 14 categories. Thirteen food categories were found at each area, but significant differences in diet were observed between sites and sampling periods. Individuals from Araçá consumed an overall larger quantity and diversity of food items, which consisted mainly of foraminiferans, polychaetes, and crustaceans.At Barequeçaba, diatoms were the most important item, followed by crustaceans and polychaetes. Temporal variation depended on sites: the number of food items in the stomachs of individuals of O. minuta and dietary composition was roughly constant over time at Araçá, whereas larger variations were observed at Barequeçaba. Although O. minuta has been previously characterized as a carnivore/scavenger, our results show that the diet of this species varies in space and time and comprises a large variety of food resources. The species thus plays a role in the cycling of both vegetal and animal organic matter. This generalist behavior may allow individuals to shift their diet according to habitat alterations and food availability, thereby enhancing the persistence and resilience of O. minuta in different environments or future climate change scenarios. K E Y W O R D S coastal ecosystems, frequency of occurrence, numeric importance, stomach content, trophic ecology S U PP O RTI N G I N FO R M ATI O N Additional supporting information may be found online in the Supporting Information section. How to cite this article: Corte GN, Yokoyama LQ, Checon HH, Turra A. Spatial and temporal variation in the diet of the sandy beach gastropod Olivella minuta. Invertebr Biol.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Spatial and temporal variation in the diet of the sandy beach gastropod Olivella minuta

Corte

Yokoyama

Checon

et al. 2019

Invertebrate Biology

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“…Gastropods, unlike the much less mobile bivalves, therefore appear sufficiently agile to avoid predation by A. propatula if they are large enough relative to their potential predator ( Cyrus et al, 2015 ). (7) Autotomy is not performed to defend against cannibalistic attacks ( Cyrus & Peters, 2014 ; Cyrus et al, 2015 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the case of the Central American Agaronia spp., we have often found the existing identification literature ( Keen, 1971 ; López, Montoya & López, 1988 ; Sterba, 2004 ) to be ambiguous and not always helpful in the field. Following previous work ( Rupert & Peters, 2011 ; Cyrus et al, 2012 , 2015 ; Cyrus & Peters, 2014 ), we refer to the predatory Agaronia sp. observed in this study as A. propatula (Conrad 1849), albeit with hesitation.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, it exploits wave action to move rapidly using its expanded foot as an underwater sail, and has a pronounced capability of sensing movement and vibrations in the sediment to detect potential prey ( Cyrus et al, 2012 ). It autotomizes the part of its foot that is used to form the pouch in which prey is stored ( Rupert & Peters, 2011 ), but previous studies have failed to identify the natural trigger of autotomy in A. propatula ( Cyrus & Peters, 2014 ; Cyrus et al, 2015 ). The species also exhibits size-dependent cannibalism, resulting in different roles of different size classes of the population in the trophic network of the beach ecosystem ( Cyrus et al, 2015 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Complexity of the prey spectrum ofAgaronia propatula(Caenogastropoda: Olividae), a dominant predator in sandy beach ecosystems of Pacific Central America

Robinson

Peters

2018

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Olivid gastropods of the genus Agaronia are dominant predators within invertebrate communities on sandy beaches throughout Pacific Central America. At Playa Grande, on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica, we observed 327 natural predation events by Agaronia propatula. For each predation event, we documented prey taxa and body size of both predator and prey. The relationship between predator and prey size differed for each of the four main prey taxa: bivalves, crustaceans, heterospecific gastropods, and conspecific gastropods (representing cannibalism). For bivalve prey, there was increased variance in prey size with increasing predator size. Crustaceans were likely subdued only if injured or otherwise incapacitated. Heterospecific gastropods (mostly Olivella semistriata) constituted half of all prey items, but were only captured by small and intermediately sized A. propatula. Large O. semistriata appeared capable of avoiding predation by A. propatula. Cannibalism was more prevalent among large A. propatula than previously estimated. Our findings suggested ontogenetic niche shifts in A. propatula and a significant role of cannibalism in its population dynamics. Also indicated were size-dependent defensive behavior in some prey taxa and a dynamic, fine-scale zonation of the beach. The unexpected complexity of the trophic relations of A. propatula was only revealed though analysis of individual predation events. This highlights the need for detailed investigations into the trophic ecology of marine invertebrates to understand the factors driving ecosystem structuring in sandy beaches.

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Cannibalism causes size-dependent intraspecific predation pressure but does not trigger autotomy in the intertidal gastropodAgaronia propatula

et al. 2015

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The cannibalistic snailAgaronia propatula(Caenogastropoda, Mollusca) is reluctant to feed on autotomized ‘tails’ of conspecifics

Cited by 3 publications

References 16 publications

Spatial and temporal variation in the diet of the sandy beach gastropod Olivella minuta

Spatial and temporal variation in the diet of the sandy beach gastropod Olivella minuta

Complexity of the prey spectrum ofAgaronia propatula(Caenogastropoda: Olividae), a dominant predator in sandy beach ecosystems of Pacific Central America

Cannibalism causes size-dependent intraspecific predation pressure but does not trigger autotomy in the intertidal gastropodAgaronia propatula

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