Abstract
The gastropod Ilyanassa obsoleta (Say) is native to the east coast of North America where it is locally abundant on sandflats, mudflats, and in saltmarsh creeks. The local disturbances created by snails and their movements affect soft-sediment community composition. Movements of individually marked snails were followed on an intertidal sandflat on Cape Henlopen, Delaware, U.S.A. In June 1991, 1,200 snails that had tested as trematode-uninfected were released and over 5 months 554 were sighted 971 times. Mean daily net distance moved was 1.7 m, but snails often moved 10–20 m day−1 and one snail was 180 m distant after 130 days. Net dispersal of the released population was attained in ≈10 days, by which time, a typical distance from release was 15–20 m. Snails were not found crossing sandbars and most moved away from shore into a tidal gully. In June 1993, 500 snails, both uninfected and trematode-infected, were released at the same position and over 6 months, 350 snails were sighted 949 times. Sandbars were again barriers to movement, but their changed positions allowed wider dispersal. Net dispersal was complete in ≈20 days by which time a typical distance from release was 30–40 m. Mean daily net distance moved was 2.2 m, but within 10 days snails had moved 50–100 m. In both years, following initial dispersal, snails (infected or not) took up random directions from move to move. Infected and uninfected snails dispersed equal distances, but had different mean final dispersal directions. Dispersal of I. obsoleta individuals was extensive and affected by shifting sandbar positions and parasitism. Recognizing this will be important in appreciating the ecological dynamics of this gastropod and in determining its effects on soft-bottom communities.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Batchelder CH (1915) Migration of Ilyanassa obsoleta,Litorina litorea and Litorina rudis. Nautilus 29:43–46
Borowsky B (1979) The nature of aggregations of Nassarius obsoletus in the intertidal zone before the fall offshore migration. Malacological Rev 12:89–90
Bretz DD, Dimock RV (1983) Behaviorally important characteristics of the mucous trail of the marine gastropod Ilyanassa obsoleta (Say). J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 71:181–191
Clark DP (1962) An analysis of dispersal and movement in Phaulacridium vittatum (Sjost.) (Acrididae). Aust J Zool 10:382–399
Connor MS, Edgar RJ (1982) Selective grazing by the mud snail Ilyanassa obsoleta. Oecologia 53:271–275
Crisp M (1969) Studies on the behavior of Nassarius obsoletus (Say) (Mollusca, Gastropoda). Biol Bull 136:355–373
Crowe TP, Underwood AJ (1999) Differences in dispersal of an intertidal gastropod in two habitats: the need for and design of repeated experimental transplantation. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 237:31–60
Curtis LA (1985) The influence of sex and trematode parasites on carrion response of the estuarine snail Ilyanassa obsoleta. Biol Bull 169:377–390
Curtis LA (1987) Vertical distribution of an estuarine snail altered by a parasite. Science 235:1509–1511
Curtis LA (1990) Parasitism and the movement of intertidal gastropod individuals. Biol Bull 179:105–112
Curtis LA (1993) Parasite transmission in the intertidal zone—vertical migrations, infective stages, and snail trails. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 173:197–209
Curtis LA (1994) A decade-long perspective on a bioindicator of pollution: imposex in Ilyanassa obsoleta on Cape Henlopen, Delaware Bay. Mar Environ Res 38:291–302
Curtis LA (1995) Growth, trematode parasitism, and longevity of a long-lived marine gastropod (Ilyanassa obsoleta). J Mar Biol Ass UK 75:913–925
Curtis LA (1996) The probability of a marine gastropod being infected by a trematode. J Parasitol 82:830–833
Curtis LA (1997) Ilyanassa obsoleta (Gastropoda) as a host for trematodes in Delaware estuaries. J Parasitol 83:793–803
Curtis LA (2002) Ecology of larval trematodes in three marine gastropods. Parasitology 124:S43–S56
Curtis LA (2003) Tenure of individual larval trematode infections in an estuarine gastropod. J Mar Biol Ass UK 83:1047–1051
Curtis LA, Hurd LE (1983) Age, sex and parasites: spatial heterogeneity in a sandflat population of Ilyanassa obsoleta. Ecology 64:819–828
Curtis LA, Kinley JL, Tanner NL (2000) Longevity of oversized individuals: growth, parasitism, and history in an estuarine snail population. J Mar Biol Ass UK 80:811–820
Davies MSK, Knowles AJ (2001) Effects of trematode parasitism on the behaviour and ecology of a common marine snail (Littorina littorea (L.)). J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 260:155–167
DeWitt TH, Levinton JS (1985) Disturbance, emigration, and refugia: how the mud snail, Ilyanassa obsoleta (Say), affects the habitat distribution of an epifaunal amphipod, Microdeutopus gryllotalpa (Costa). J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 92:97–113
Dimock RV Jr (1985) Quantitative aspects of locomotion by the mud snail Ilyanassa obsoleta. Malacologia 26:165–172
Dunn R, Mullineaux LS, Mills SW (1999) Resuspension of postlarval soft-shell clams Mya arenaria through disturbance by the mud snail Ilyanassa obsoleta. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 180:223–232
Gooch JL, Smith BS, Knupp D (1972) Regional survey of gene frequencies in the mud snail Nassarius obsoletus. Biol Bull 142:36–48
Hamilton PV (1978) Intertidal distribution and long term movement of Littorina irrorata (Mollusca: Gastropoda). Mar Biol 46:49–58
Hunt JH, Ambrose WG, Peterson CH (1987) Effects of the gastropod, Ilyanassa obsoleta (Say) and the bivalve, Mercenaria mercenaria (L.), on larval settlement and juvenile recruitment of infauna. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 108:229–240
Jenner CE (1959) Aggregation and schooling in the marine snail, Nassarius obsoletus. Biol Bull 117:397
Kelaher BP, Levinton JS, Hoch JM (2003) Foraging by the mud snail, Ilyanassa obsoleta (Say), modulates spatial variation in benthic community structure. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 292:139–157
Lambert TC, Farley J (1968) The effect of parasitism by the trematode Cryptocotyle lingua (Creplin) on zonation and winter migration of the common periwinkle Littorina littorea (L.). Can J Zool 46:1139–1147
Lauckner G (1980) Diseases of mollusca: Gastropoda. In: Kinne O (ed) Diseases of marine animals, vol 1. Wiley, New York, pp 311–424
Levinton JS, Martinez DE, McCartney MM, Judge ML (1995) The effect of water flow on movement, burrowing, and distributions of the gastropod Ilyanassa obsoleta in a tidal creek. Mar Biol 122:417–424
McCarthy HO, Fitzpatrick S, Irwin SWB (2000) A transmissible trematode affects the direction and rhythm of movement in a marine gastropod. Anim Behav 59:1161–1166
McCurdy DG (2001) Asexual reproduction in Pygospio elegans Claparede (Annelida, Polychaeta) in relation to parasitism by Lepocreadium setiferoides (Miller and Northup) (Platyhelminthes, Trematoda). Biol Bull 201:45–51
McCurdy DG, Moran B (2004) Parasitism and soft-bottom community structure: studies in a polychaete-amphipod system. J Mar Biol Ass UK 84:165–169
Miller AA, Poulin R (2001) Parasitism, movement, and distribution of the snail Diloma subrostrata (Trochidae) in a soft-sediment intertidal zone. Can J Zool 79:2029–2035
Mouritsen KN, Jensen KT (1994) The enigma of gigantism: effects of larval trematodes on growth, fecundity, egestion and locomotion in Hydrobia ulvae (Pennant) (Gastropoda: Prosobranchia). J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 181:53–66
Nichols JA, Robertson JR (1979) Field evidence that the eastern mud snail, Ilyanassa obsoleta, influences nematode community structure. Nautilus 93:44–46
Novak M, Lever M, Valiela I (2001) Top-down vs. bottom-up controls of microphytobenthic standing crop: role of mud snails and nitrogen supply in the littoral of Waquoit Bay estuaries. Biol Bull 201:292–294
Pace ML, Darley WM (1979) The effect of grazing by a gastropod, Nassarius obsoletus, on the benthic microbial community of a salt marsh mudflat. Estuar Coast Mar Sci 9:121–134
Sindermann CJ (1960) Ecological studies of marine dermatitus-producing schistosome larvae in northern New England. Ecology 41:678–684
Sindermann CJ, Farrin AE (1962) Ecological studies of Cryptocotyle lingua (Trematoda: Heterophyidae) whose larvae cause ‘pigment spots’ of marine fish. Ecology 43:69–75
Southwood TRE (1966) Ecological methods. Methuen & Co Ltd., London
Stambaugh JE, McDermott JJ (1969) The effects of trematode larvae on the locomotion of naturally infected Nassarius obsoletus (Gastropoda). Proc Pennsylvania Acad Sci 43:226–231
Trott TJ, Dimock RV Jr (1978) Intraspecific trail following by the mud snail Ilyanassa obsoleta. Mar Behav Physiol 5:91–101
Turchin P (1998) Quantitative analysis of movement. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland
Ullman WJ, Chang B, Miller DC, Madsen JA (2003) Groundwater mixing, nutrient diagenesis, and discharges across a sandy beachface, Cape Henlopen, Delaware (USA). Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 57:539–552
Williams IC, Ellis C (1975) Movements of the common periwinkle, Littorina littorea (L.), on the Yorkshire coast in winter and the influence of infection with larval digenea. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 17:47–58
Zar JH (1999) Biostatistical analysis, 4th edn. Prentice Hall, Saddle River
Acknowledgements
It was difficult, particularly long after release, to find marked snails. I wish to thank especially K. Hubbard (and the Undergraduate Research Peter White Fellowships supporting her), and also C. Morrisey, for many hours spent searching and doing the other tasks involved. I am indebted to two anonymous referees for their insights.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Communicated by J.P. Grassle, New Brunswick
Electronic supplementary material
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Curtis, L.A. Movements of Ilyanassa obsoleta (Gastropoda) on an intertidal sandflat. Marine Biology 148, 307–317 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-005-0042-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-005-0042-1