Abstract
The marine mud snail Ilyanassa obsoleta (Say) is able to detect both the presence and the polarity of mucous trails of conspecifics. This study has examined the effects of various chemical and physical treatments of mucous trails on trail-following. Snails did not follow trails that had been exposed to 80 °C, 95 % ethanol, or hyaluronidase. Trail-following was not affected by exposing trails to milder heat treatment, to mechanical disturbance, to Pronase and α-amylase, to the lectins concanavalin A and wheat germ agglutinin, or to antiserum against trail mucus. Structural elements in mucous trails were revealed upon exposure of trails to antiserum and a fluoroscein conjugate. Changes in behavioral responses to trails were accompanied by changes in these structural elements, suggesting that structural integrity of mucous trails is important in the trail-following phenomenon.
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