Abstract
Herbivorous molluscs represent one of the greatest grazing impacts on abundance and diversity of primary producers in benthic ecosystems. However, the effects of nutritional content of kelp species on the physiological rate of trochoid herbivorous snails inhabiting intertidal-subtidal environments are less well known. Here, we conducted manipulation experiments to compare the nutritional quality of two kelp species, Lessonia spicata and Macrocystis pyrifera, and their influence on the feeding behavior and physiological rates of the snail Tegula atra. Experimental results demonstrated that L. spicata had the highest nutritional value (i.e., high organic matter and protein content), and was the preferred alga, compared with M. pyrifera in a choice experiment. However, when the snails were raised with each of the algal species in no choice experiments, no significant differences were found. Absorption efficiency and oxygen uptake were higher for snails reared with L. spicata than M. pyrifera, but growth rate was similar. These results suggest that high metabolic activity was compensated by the high absorption efficiency of T. atra when it consumed the preferred L. spicata, which could explain the lack of relationship between preference and growth rate.
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Datasets generated and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author.
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank A Lorca, J Büchner, L Salas and Reproductive Ecophysiology Laboratory of Instituto de Ciencias Marinas y Limnológicas, Universidad Austral de Chile. The study was funded by FONDECYT 1161420 and FONDAP IDEAL 15150003 Grants to JMN. NAL and SB also acknowledge support from PIA ANID ACT 172037. NAL acknowledges ANID – Millennium Science Initiative Program – ICN2019_015 (SECOS). SB acknowledges ANID doctoral scholarship (#21210012) for their support to this manuscript. This is an article based on a doctoral thesis (SB) section from the Universidad Austral de Chile. Criticism and suggestions received from anonymous reviewers on an early version of this study were appreciated.
Funding
The study was funded by FONDECYT Grant 1161420 to JMN. Support from PIA ANID ACT 172037 to SB and NAL and ANID doctoral scholarship (#21210012) to SB for this manuscript.
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Conceptualization: SB, JMN, NAL. Formal analysis: SB and NAL. Investigation: SB, JMN, NAL. Methodology: SB, JL PAV, FM. Supervision and Validation: JMN, NAL. Writing ± original draft: SB, JMN, NAL, EG. Writing ± review & editing: SB, JMN, NAL, EG. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Benítez, S., Lagos, N.A., Griesshaber, E. et al. Influence of kelps nutritional quality on physiological traits of the marine snail Tegula atra (Trochoidea). Mar Biol 169, 111 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-022-04097-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-022-04097-w