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Feeding preference of Littorina snails (Gastropoda) for bleached and photosynthetic tissues of the seaweed Mazzaella parksii (Rhodophyta)

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Abstract

Marine invertebrate herbivores occasionally prefer particular tissues of a given seaweed depending on tissue age. For the intertidal alga Mazzaella parksii (=M. cornucopiae), however, important tissue differences result from abiotic stress: distal tissues of many fronds become bleached under strong irradiance and desiccation during spring and summer low tides. Snails of the genus Littorina (periwinkles) are significant grazers of M. parksii. Through a multiple-choice feeding-preference experiment, we found that periwinkles actively consume bleached tissues, but almost no photosynthetic tissues. This suggests that bleached tissues of M. parksii may support Littorina populations to a good extent during spring and summer. In addition, since photosynthetic tissues are basal, the impact of periwinkles on frond mortality might be lower than if they preferred photosynthetic tissues. Photosynthetic tissues are actively consumed by periwinkles when they are the only food choice, as shown by other researchers. Therefore, retaining bleached tissues for some time might have evolved in M. parksii to divert grazing pressure away from vital tissues.

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Author notes

  1. Ricardo Scrosati

    Present address: University of British Columbia, Department of Botany, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6T 1Z4, Canada

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre, Bamfield, British Columbia, V0R 1B0, Canada

    Christine Heaven

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  1. Christine Heaven
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  2. Ricardo Scrosati
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Heaven, C., Scrosati, R. Feeding preference of Littorina snails (Gastropoda) for bleached and photosynthetic tissues of the seaweed Mazzaella parksii (Rhodophyta). Hydrobiologia 513, 239–243 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:hydr.0000018298.94207.d2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:hydr.0000018298.94207.d2

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