Abstract
The gastropod Olivella columellaris inhabits sandy beaches of the Tropical East Pacific. These snails perform tidal migrations forcontinuous suspension feeding in the moving backwash zone, possibly controlled by an endogenous circatidal clock. However, O. columellaris readily modifies its circatidal behavior, for example when flow channels develop below natural and artificial tide pools at ebb tide. Suspension feeding continues in such channels while water is running, delaying tidal migration. Such behavioral plasticity questions the significance ofendogenous rhythms for the regulation of tidal migrations in O. columellaris.
Highlights
The behavior of the inhabitants of intertidal zones is linked to the predictable tidal cycles, and the involvement of endogenous clocks has been demonstrated in several species (Naylor 2010)
Short (20 cm) rigid plastic pipes of 28, 14, or 10 cm diameter were pushed into the sediment to 8 cm depth, the pipe contents were collected and sieved (5 mm mesh), the O. columellaris retained in the sieve were counted, and the density was calculated as individuals per square meter
Olivella columellaris is most observed when it is feeding in the backwash
Summary
The behavior of the inhabitants of intertidal zones is linked to the predictable tidal cycles, and the involvement of endogenous clocks has been demonstrated in several species (Naylor 2010). In mollusks, the distinction of endogenously controlled circatidal behaviors from direct responses to tide-dependent changes of external stimuli has proven difficult. Other examples are the large-scale tidal migrations of certain sandy beach mollusks, which appear highly adaptive in the intertidal environment. It seems that mollusk tidal migration is “not synchronized by an intrinsic mechanism but results from behavioral responses to changing physical conditions” (McLachlan et al 1979: 433; see Ansell 1983, McLachlan and Hesp 1984, Ellers 1995a, 1995b).
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