Abstract
Rapana venosa is one of the most widespread species of muricid gastropod and lives on all types of substrata. Although common in Bohai Sea, relatively little is known about its ecology specially foraging behavior. We examined (1) prey selection by R. venosa when offered three prey species, Manila clams Ruditapes philippinarum, blue mussels Mytilus edulis and oysters Crassostrea gigas, (2) relative importance of various behavioral components (i.e., encounter, attack, capture and consumption) to the prey selection and (3) in detail the foraging behaviors of R. venosa in the laboratory. Predation rates, prey characteristics (shell strength, energy content per prey, handling time per prey), behavioral components (encounter probabilities, foraging time budget) and major behavioral transition frequencies were analyzed. R. venosa consumed more clams per day than mussels and oysters. Predation on clams was the most effective with a consumption rate of 0.75 clams day−1, although whelks spent only 1.23 % of their time searching for prey. In comparison, 0.54 mussels day−1 were consumed while spending 2.28 % of their time searching, and 0.29 oysters day−1 were consumed occupying 3.08 % of the time. With the preference for clams over mussels and oysters resulted from R. venosa active selection, the prey has a higher profitability. The probability of capture upon attack and consumption upon capture, reflected prey shell strength and morphology, was the two most important behavioral components to determine the prey selection for clams. Searching events took place more often when offered oysters than mussels and clams. Therefore, prey species selection by R. venosa appears to be determined by differences in prey vulnerability and accessibility, and active selection of prey with the highest profitability. Our results have implications for the provision of protective refuges for species of interest (i.e., oysters), such as in population enhancement operations and bottom aquaculture.
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Acknowledgments
We thank Dr. Yunfei Sun for experiment suggestions and valuable advice in writing the article. This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 31572636), the Agricultural Major Application Technology Innovation Project of Shandong Province, the NSFC-Shandong Joint Fund for Marine Science Research Centers (Grant No. U1406403).
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Hu, N., Wang, F., Zhang, T. et al. Prey selection and foraging behavior of the whelk Rapana venosa . Mar Biol 163, 233 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-016-3006-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-016-3006-8