Abstract
The corallivorous gastropod Drupella has been responsible for extensive coral mortality on a number of reefs in the Indo-West Pacific region. Seasonal and spatial variability in the abundance of juvenile (<2.0 cm shell length) and adult (>2.0 cm) Drupella cornus along the Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia, were documented during 1990/1991. Numbers of D. cornus were found to vary significantly between the different sites and reef habitats sampled, with the highest numbers recorded at a backreef edge site at the southern end of the reef. There was no evidence that the densities of D. cornus varied seasonally, although size-frequency distributions suggest that there may have been a recruitment peak in January/February 1991 following a major spawning event in November/December 1990. Drupella cornus were found predominantly on Acropora species with a caespitose/corymbose growth form; however the abundance of these corals at different sites did not explain the observed distribution patterns of the gastropod. Drupella cornus recruits (<1.0 cm shell length) frequently occurred on corals which were also occupied by larger conspecifics, suggesting that either larval settlement or post-settlement survival were increased in the presence of adult D. cornus.
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Turner, S.J. Spatial variability in the abundance of the corallivorous gastropod Drupella cornus . Coral Reefs 13, 41–48 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00426434
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00426434