Shell ecophenotype in the blue mussel (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Mytilus edulis</Emphasis>) determines the spatial pattern in foraging behaviour of an oystercatcher (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Haematopus ostralegus</Emphasis>) population |
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Authors: | Email author" target="_blank">Alexandra?ZieritzEmail author Gemma?Clucas Lauren?Axtmann David?C?Aldridge |
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Institution: | 1.Department of Zoology,University of Cambridge,Cambridge,UK;2.Unit of Aquatic Systems Biology,Technische Universit?t München,Freising,Germany |
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Abstract: | When feeding on blue mussels (Mytilus edulis), oystercatchers (Haematopus ostralegus) either stab into the mollusc’s gaping valves or hammer through its dorsal or ventral shell. Whilst the selectivity of hammering
and stabbing oystercatchers for specific prey morphologies has been well studied, the way in which the effects of environment
on M.
edulis morphology can in turn affect feeding methods of H. ostralegus is very poorly understood. Based on morphological analyses on randomly selected shells from three intertidal zones, this
study failed to detect differences in morphology or distribution of dorsally and ventrally hammered shells but confirms the
finding of previous authors that hammering oystercatchers select thinner mussels than stabbing birds. Additionally, we show
that this difference in optimal prey morphology can lead to spatial patterns in oystercatcher feeding behaviour. Whilst at
the low intertidal and higher mid intertidal zones, characterised by comparatively thick shells, most empty shells had apparently
been stabbed, hammering was the dominant feeding behaviour at the lower mid intertidal zone, where shells were thinner. Preference
of hammering birds for smaller mussels was not ubiquitous. Sagittal shell shape was predominantly influenced by allometric
growth effects and had only minor effect on prey selection. All oystercatchers preferred less inflated mussels, with the degree
of shell inflation gradually increasing with higher intertidal elevation. Our results illustrate the importance of small-scale
patterns in prey ecophenotypes in determining the distribution and feeding dynamics of wading birds. |
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