Production and Life Cycle of the Gastropod Hydrobia truncata, with Notes on Spurwinkia salsa in Massachusetts Salt Marsh Pools

Abstract

Two hydrobiid gastropods are important components of the salt marsh pool invertebrate community at the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge near Rowley, Massachusetts.Hydrobia truncata was found to be the dominant snail in the two higher salinity pools, withSpurwinkia salsa becoming the more important at lower salinities.H. truncata began to reproduce between May 19 and June 9. Cohorts lasted about 14 months, and 99% of production occurred during the first 12 months. Shell height inH. truncata was greater in pool 2 which had a much lower density than pool 1 on all dates of the 1980 growing season. Snail densities were positively correlated with the presence of floating algal mats of the genusCladophora, but the snails apparently do not graze on this alga.H. truncata production, calculated by four methods, ranged from 41.0 to 78.1 and averaged 60.5 g m−2 cohort−1 for pool 1, but were estimated to be less than 10% of these values in pool 2. In pool 1,H. truncata was estimated to assimilate 55% of net primary production or 28% of total pool energy income when detritus income was included. When found in the same pool asH. truncata, Spurwinkia salsa ordinarily comprised less than 0.5% of the total snail population.S. salsa veligers did not metamorphose into juveniles until July and were partitioned fromH. truncata by size durig their first growing season. The main separation between the two species, however, appeared to be spatial, on a salinity gradient. TheS. salsa cohort lasted about 19 months with a few individuals surviving to 27 months in their third summer.