Feeding habits and phenotypic changes in proboscis length in the southern oyster drill, Stramonita haemastoma (Gastropoda: Muricidae), on Florida sabellariid worm reefs |
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Authors: | Jeffrey T Watanabe Craig M Young |
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Institution: | (1) Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, 5600 US 1 North, Ft, Pierce, FL 34946, USA;(2) Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, , 150 W. University Blvd, Melbourne, FL 32901, USA;(3) Present address: Department of Biology, Ohlone College, Fremont, CA 94539, USA;(4) Oregon Institute of Marine Biology, Charleston, OR 97420, USA |
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Abstract: | The southern oyster drill, Stramonita (= Thais, Kool 1987) haemastoma, is a common intertidal and subtidal predator in the southeastern United States. It uses specialized feeding structures and
foraging strategies to bore holes through the shell of its bivalve prey. However, on the east coast of Florida, S. haemastoma, is common on sabellariid worm reefs constructed by the polychaete Phragmatopoma lapidosa (Walton Rocks Beach, Florida, 27°17′N, 80°12′W), a habitat where the snail’s typical prey are scarce. From 1999 to 2001,
we examined the feeding habits of S. haemastoma on sabellariid reefs and the behavioral and morphological responses of S. haemastoma that accompanied switching from a diet of bivalves to sabellariids. On worm reefs S. haemastoma feeds on P. lapidosa by inserting the proboscis deep into a worm’s tube. Worm-feeding snails had longer proboscises (~3.7 times shell height)
than bivalve-feeding conspecifics (~2.0 times shell height). Snails raised on different diets showed significant differences
in proboscis length suggesting that the proboscis length is phenotypically plastic. Whereas typical oyster drills must bore
holes for days before ingesting prey, S. haemastoma on worm reefs avoids boring and attacks and consumes worms in 15–50 min. In the laboratory, oyster drills consumed 1.7 worms
per day, spending <1 h each day feeding. On sabellariid reefs, differences in feeding, handling costs, and prey value, are
likely to have a significant effect on the ecology and life history of S. haemastoma in this habitat. |
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