Molluscivore

Abstract: The shells of most lacustrine gastropods are typically small, weakly calcified, and mod- estly ornamented to unornamented. Similarly, most lacustrine crabs are usually small detritivores with weak chelae. A number of invertebrate taxa in Lake Tanganyika, however, deviate from these generalities. This study explores a predator-prey coevolution model as an explanation for the large, heavily calcified, and ornate gastropods and the robust, durophagous crabs of Lake Tanganyika. The endemic thiarid and viviparid gastropods from Lake Tanganyika have significantly thicker shells and higher frequencies of terminal apertural lip thickening than closely related cosmopolitan taxa from outside the lake. Tanganyikan gastropods also display considerably higher incidence of shell repair, following nonlethal shell damage, than cosmopolitan taxa of the same families. There is a strong positive correlation between gastropod apertural lip thickness and shell repair frequency among all the gastropod species analyzed. The endemic Tanganyikan potamonautid crab Platy- telphusa armata (a molluscivore) possesses larger, more robust crushing chelae than other African potamonautid or potamonid crabs. In contrast with the cosmopolitan African crabs, the Tangan- yikan crabs display molariform, rather than serrate dentition on their crushing chelipeds. In shell-crushing experiments, the Tanganyikan gastropod shells were an order of magnitude stronger than typical lacustrine gastropod shells, many well within the range of tropical marine gastropod shell strengths. Predation experiments with the endemic gastropods Spekia, Neothauma, Lavigeria spp., Para- melania spp. and the crab Platytelphusa armata showed that increased size, apertural lip thickness or shell sculpture reduced the successful predation rate of P. armata. Crabs with large chelae have a greater ratio of successful: unsuccessful attacks than crabs with small chelae. Among cases of successful predation, crabs with large chelae employed predation methods that required less time and energy (such as crushing the shell in the cheliped) than the methods employed by crabs with small chelae (such as peeling the shell from the aperture or the spire). The morphological, shell-crushing, and aquarium experiment data, considered in concert, pro- vide strong support for the idea that the endemic gastropods and crabs of Lake Tanganyika have coevolved over the past 7 million years.

Abstract: At temperate latitudes densities and biomass of intertidal molluscs tend to be strongly seasonal. Here we provide a comparative study on seasonality of bivalves and gastropods in the tropical intertidal seagrass-covered soft sediment environment of Banc d'Arguin, Mauritania (20 degrees N, 16 degrees W). In this system, benthivorous shorebirds exert considerable predation pressure with strong seasonal variations. It has been proposed that during the period when (adult) shorebirds are absent (May-August) benthic biomass would be able to recover, but a first test was inconclusive. Over a full year (March 2011-February 2012), each month we sampled benthic invertebrates at sixteen permanent sites. The total of 3763 specimens comprised 20 species, representing eight orders and 19 families. Bivalves were much more common than gastropods. The bivalve Loripes lucinalis dominated the assemblage throughout the year (58% of total number), followed by Dosinia isocardia (10%), Senilia senilis (8%) and the gastropod Gibbula umbilicalis (6%). Average biomass amounted to 32 g AFDM/m(2), of which the large West-African bloody cockle Senilia made up three-quarter, Loripes 16%, Gibbula 2% and Dosinia 1%. Across the 20 species, lowest densities were reached in late spring (May) and summer (Aug.), whereas highest densities occurred in autumn (Oct.). The lowest overall density of 676 specimens/m(2) in August more than doubled to a peak density of 1538 specimens/m(2) in October, most of the increase being due to strong recruitment in both Loripes (densities increasing from 322 specimens/m(2) in Sept. to 785 specimens/m(2) in Oct.) and Dosinia (densities increasing from 18 specimens/m(2) in Aug. to 265 specimens/m(2) in Sept.). Our results suggest that by the time the feathered molluscivore predators returned in high numbers to Banc d'Arguin (after their summer breeding season in the Arctic), benthic animals were at a peak. In order to quantitatively understand the seasonal changes in mollusc abundance, we build upon a recently published optimal diet model in which the most abundant molluscivore shorebird, the red knot (Calidris canutus), could choose between Loripes and Dosinia. Observed changes in densities of these two bivalves closely match depletion trajectories predicted by the model. We conclude that molluscivore shorebirds are able to deplete their food stocks in the course of their 'winter' in a tropical intertidal area.

Abstract: We carried out laboratory experiments to study the behaviour of zebra mussels in the presence of predators with different feeding habits: the roach Rutilus rutilus (an efficient molluscivore), the racer goby Neogobius gymnotrachelus, the crayfish Orconectes limosus (facultative molluscivores), and the perch Perca fluviatilis (prefers other kinds of food). We studied three size (length) classes of mussels: small ( 17mm). We measured attachment strength and numbers of individuals forming aggregations after 6-d exposure to predators, as well as horizontal and vertical distances moved by mussels after 24h of exposure. Attachment strength and tendency to form aggregations of small and medium mussels increased in the presence of roach. Medium mussels exposed to perch were also more strongly attached than those in the control treatment (no predators). Large mussels were unaffected by any predators. Predators did not affect horizontal distances moved by all sizes of mussels. Small individuals exposed to roach reduced their upward movement. In most cases, the lack of responses to perch (a non-molluscivore) ruled out any potential influence of fish movements or faeces upon mussels, suggesting an effect of predator kairomones. The exception was the attachment of medium individuals, which also responded to the presence of perch. In this case, responses to other stimuli, e.g. fish movements, could be involved.

Abstract: Black carp (Mylopharyngodon piceus) were imported to the U.S. in the 1970s to control snails in aquaculture ponds and have since escaped from captivity. The increase in captures of wild fish has raised concerns of risk to native and imperiled unionid mussels given previous literature classified this species a molluscivore. We acquired black carp from commercial fishers and biologists, and examined digestive contents of 109 fish captured over 8 y from lentic and lotic habitats in the central and southern U.S.A. Digestive tract contents were preserved, and diet items inventoried. We identified 59 aquatic animal taxa (21 mollusks, 27 insects, and 11 other invertebrates) and various plant material including nuts and seeds; no fish were found. Approximately 45% of stomachs examined were empty or only contained flukes (Trematoda) that had infected mollusks before they were ingested. Nonempty stomachs contained snails (16.5%), bivalve mussels (22.8%), and insect larvae (net-spinning caddisflies, 15.6%; burrowing mayflies, 6.4%; and midges, 13.7%). Fish also consumed freshwater sponges (Porifera), moss animals (Bryozoa), crustaceans (Ostracoda and Decapoda), water mites (Acarina), and three worm phyla (Nematoda, Nemertea, Annelida). Seven taxa of unionid mussels were identified from shell fragments among the fish we examined, all of which are found in habitats with soft mud or sand/silt substrates. Diet of fish captured in lentic environments contained significantly higher richness than those captured in lotic environments. Individual black carp often contained large numbers of only one or two diet items that were assumed locally abundant and did not always crush the shells of mollusks. Most fish we examined consumed benthic prey, which supports the classification of black carp as a benthic foraging species. However, the presence of other aquatic taxa associated with pelagic or subsurface zones suggests black carp are opportunistic in their consumption of diet items and flexible in their feeding modes.