scholarly journals Deciphering the known unknowns in the behavioural ecology of the intertidal gastropod Littorina littorea

2020 ◽  
Vol 524 ◽  
pp. 151313
Author(s):  
Emilie Moisez ◽  
Laurent Seuront
Keyword(s):  
Littorina Littorea ◽  
Behavioural Ecology ◽  
Intertidal Gastropod ◽  
Known Unknowns

scholarly journals Ocean acidification disrupts induced defences in the intertidal gastropod Littorina littorea

2007 ◽  
Vol 3 (6) ◽  
pp. 699-701 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Bibby ◽  
Polly Cleall-Harding ◽  
Simon Rundle ◽  
Steve Widdicombe ◽  
John Spicer
Keyword(s):  
Ocean Acidification ◽  
Biological Effects ◽  
Littorina Littorea ◽  
Direct Effects ◽  
Joint Stress ◽  
Seawater Ph ◽  
Induced Defences ◽  
Intertidal Gastropod ◽  
High Predation ◽  
Morphological Defence

Carbon dioxide-induced ocean acidification is predicted to have major implications for marine life, but the research focus to date has been on direct effects. We demonstrate that acidified seawater can have indirect biological effects by disrupting the capability of organisms to express induced defences, hence, increasing their vulnerability to predation. The intertidal gastropod Littorina littorea produced thicker shells in the presence of predation (crab) cues but this response was disrupted at low seawater pH. This response was accompanied by a marked depression in metabolic rate (hypometabolism) under the joint stress of high predation risk and reduced pH. However, snails in this treatment apparently compensated for a lack of morphological defence, by increasing their avoidance behaviour, which, in turn, could affect their interactions with other organisms. Together, these findings suggest that biological effects from ocean acidification may be complex and extend beyond simple direct effects.

scholarly journals Microplastic leachates impair behavioural vigilance and predator avoidance in a temperate intertidal gastropod

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 20180453 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurent Seuront
Keyword(s):  
Predator Avoidance ◽  
Chemical Cues ◽  
Biological Effects ◽  
Carcinus Maenas ◽  
Marine Ecosystems ◽  
Behavioural Response ◽  
Littorina Littorea ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Marine Life ◽  
Intertidal Gastropod

Microplastics are a ubiquitous source of contaminations in marine ecosystems, and have major implications for marine life. Much effort has been devoted to assessing the various effects of microplastics on marine life. No evidence exists, however, on the effects of microplastic leachates on chemically mediated predator–prey interactions and the ability of prey to detect and avoid its predator. This study shows that microplastic leachates have direct biological effects by disturbing the behavioural response of the intertidal gastropod Littorina littorea to the presence of Carcinus maenas chemical cues, hence increasing their vulnerability to predation. Leachates from virgin and beached pellets respectively impaired and inhibited L. littorea vigilance and antipredator behaviours. These results suggest that the biological effects from microplastic leachates may have major implications for marine ecosystems on taxa that rely on chemosensory cues to escape predation.

Metallothionein induction in Littorina littorea (Mollusca: Prosobranchia) on exposure to cadmium

1992 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
pp. 329-342 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.J. Bebianno ◽  
W.J. Langston ◽  
K. Simkiss
Keyword(s):  
Digestive Gland ◽  
Metal Binding ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Differential Pulse ◽  
Littorina Littorea ◽  
Differential Pulse Polarography ◽  
Tissue Preparation ◽  
Surrounding Water ◽  
Pulse Polarography ◽  
Intertidal Gastropod

Cadmium uptake, storage and metabolism has been studied in the digestive gland and remaining tissues of the intertidal gastropod Littorina littorea (L). Accumulation of cadmium was linear with time in both of these compartments in individuals exposed to a range of cadmium concentrations (4, 40 and 400 μg Cd l−1).The subcellular distribution of cadmium in the digestive gland and remaining tissues of Littorina littorea reveals that most of the metal is bound to metallothionein, even in controls, and that cadmium associated with metallothionein increases in proportion to cadmium concentrations in the surrounding water.Measurements of metallothionein, made by differential pulse polarography showed that, in the digestive gland, concentrations of this metal-binding protein are not significantly affected by cadmium exposure, while in the remaining tissues they are dose-related.The inherently high levels of metallothionein in the digestive gland of L. littorea explain the role of this tissue as a major site for cadmium storage. However, the lack of significant de novo synthesis of metallothionein in response to cadmium, together with polarographic interferences from high molecular weight thiolic proteins, reduces the value of this tissue preparation as a means of detecting sublethal responses to metals.

Tidal micro-growth bands in intertidal gastropod shells, with an evaluation of band-dating techniques

1982 ◽  
Vol 214 (1196) ◽  
pp. 305-323 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Reliable Method ◽  
Sea Water ◽  
Shell Growth ◽  
Littorina Littorea ◽  
Nucella Lapillus ◽  
Surface Check ◽  
Growth Bands ◽  
Intertidal Gastropod ◽  
Shell Deposition ◽  
Made In

Four methods were used in dating micro-growth bands in the intertidal gastropods Littorina littorea, Patella vulgata and Nucella lapillus. One of the methods employed, immersion in 2.25 x 10 -4 M acetazolamide, was always successful in producing a stress band by inhibiting shell growth, but in Littorina littorea and Nucella lapillus the inhibition persisted for several days after treatment and reduced the number of bands subse­quently laid down. A surface check mark associated with an internal stress band could be made in a percentage of all three species if they were kept at 3°C for 3–4 days. However, this treatment was damaging to Nucella lapillus . The most reliable method for dating the bands without appreciably interrupting subsequent shell deposition was to remove mechanically a thin layer from the outer lip of the shell or to keep the animals in sea water with ample food for 36 h to produce an abnormally wide shell increment. When the last two methods were used and the number of bands from the check band to the growing edge were counted in peels of sectioned and etched shells, the number agreed within 1% with the number of low waters that the animals had experienced.

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