Hostname: page-component-cc8bf7c57-xrnlw Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-11T23:05:52.471Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Settlement and growth of the intertidal gastropod, Melarhaphe neritoides, on the south coast of Ireland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

A. A. Myers  and
David McGrath
A. A. Myers
Affiliation:
Zoology Department, University College, Cork, Ireland.
David McGrath
Affiliation:
Zoology Department, The Martin Ryan Marine Science Institute, University College Galwayand Department of Life Sciences, Regional Technical College, Galway, Ireland
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Settlement and growth of Melarhaphe neritoides (L. ) were studied on two rocky shores, at Carnsore Point, County Wexford and Tragumna, County Cork, on the south coast of Ireland during the years 1977–1978 and 1983–1991 respectively. Settlement occurred in each year but varied in timing and density, with maxima of 30,000 m-2 at Tragumna and 3,800 m-2 at Carnsore Point. Recently settled individuals occurred in pools in the Verrucaria zone and on open rock below this level. Growth of the 0+ and 1+ cohorts was determined by analysis of length frequency distributions. Growth of older snails was estimated by measuring growth increments in marked animals. Recruits grew to less than 2 mm in shell height in their first year. Larger snails (>2 mm shell height) grew 0. 2–0. 3 mm shell height per year. It is estimated that M. neritoides takes over five years to reach a shell height of 3 mm at Tragumna.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 73 , Issue 2 , May 1993 , pp. 313 - 319
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Crapp, G. B., 1973. The distribution and abundance of animals and plants on the rocky shores of Bantry Bay. Irish Fisheries Investigations Series B (Marine). Dublin, no. 9, 1–35.Google Scholar
Daguzan, J., 1976. Contribution à l'étude de la croissance et de la longévité de quelques Littorinidae (Mollusques Gastéropodes Prosobranches). Archives de Zoologie Expérimental et Générate, 117, 57–80.Google Scholar
Fretter, V. & Graham, A., 1980. The prosobranch molluscs of Britain and Denmark. Part 5. Marine Littorinacea. Journal of Molluscan Studies, supplement 7, 243–284.Google Scholar
Fretter, V. & Manly, R., 1977. The settlement and early benthic life of Littorina neritoides (L.) at Wembury, S. Devon. Journal of Molluscan Studies, 43, 255–262.Google Scholar
Hughes, R. N. & Roberts, D. J., 1980. Growth and reproductive rates of Littorina neritoides (L.) in North Wales. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 60, 591–599.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hughes, R. N. & Roberts, D. J., 1981. Comparative demography of Littorina rudis, L. nigrolineata and L. neritoides on three contrasted shores in North Wales. Journal of Animal Ecology, 50, 251–268.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lysaght, A. M., 1941. The biology and trematode parasites of the gastropod Littorina neritoides (L.) on the Plymouth breakwater. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 25, 41–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ryland, J. S. & Nelson-Smith, A., 1975. Littoral and benthic investigations on the west coast of Ireland. IV (Section A: faunistic and ecological studies). Some shores in counties Clare and Galway. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. B, 75, 245–266.Google ScholarPubMed
Underwood, A. J. & McFadyen, K. E., 1983. Ecology of the intertidal snail Littorina acutispira Smith. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 66, 169–197.CrossRefGoogle Scholar