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A Motographic Analysis of Foraging Behaviour in Intertidal Chitons (Acanthopleura Spp.)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

G. Santini ,
P. Della Santina  and
G. Chelazzi
G. Santini
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Biologia Animale e Genetica dell’ Universita & Centro di Studio per la Faunistica ed Ecologia Tropicali del Cnr, Via Romana 17, 1–50125 Firenze, Italy
P. Della Santina
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Biologia Animale e Genetica dell’ Universita & Centro di Studio per la Faunistica ed Ecologia Tropicali del Cnr, Via Romana 17, 1–50125 Firenze, Italy
G. Chelazzi
Affiliation:
Author to whom reprint requests should be sent
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Extract

The behaviour of two intertidal chitons (Mollusca: Polyplacophora) from the western Indian Ocean (Acanthopleura gemmata and A. brevispinosa) and one from the Caribbean Sea (A. granulata) were analyzed in order to assess the spatial and temporal organization of their foraging activity. Individual paths were recorded in the field using a motographic method based on LED-tracking and the speed variation during each excursion used to reveal the places where the animals slowed down or stopped for the purpose of grazing. Foraging segments of each trajectory were selected according to a threshold speed which was individually calibrated. The three species of Acanthopleura exhibited graded foraging strategies of different spatial complexity. Acanthopleura gemmata focused its foraging on a few large feeding sites well separated from its permanent home. Acanthopleura brevispinosa exploited more subdivided feeding grounds not distinctly separated from its rest area. Acanthopleura granulata spreads its grazing activity over many small segments, throughout each excursion. Due to different tidal and diel constraints on their activity the three species allocated different absolute time to foraging, but the fraction of time spent foraging relative to the total excursion was similar in each.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 71 , Issue 4 , November 1991 , pp. 759 - 769
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1991

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References

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