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Abstract: |
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There are three different kinds of Littorina on the rocky intertidal shores of New England, but only one has many color morphs, L. obtusata. This is what first brought my attention to these particular snails, but it wasn’t the color that intrigued me, it was their location. These snails were found on both Fucus spiralis and Ascophyllum nodosum. A. nodosum and F. spiralis are types of brown algae found in the rocky intertidal of Nahant. The snails use the algae as habitats and to graze on and have even been known to cause damage to the Ascophyllum (Toth & Pavia, 2006). I wanted to find out if the L. obtusata prefered one over the other, whatever the reason may be. That is why I set up an experiment to see if the L. obtusata had a specific preference for one algae. |
 (Picture by Daniel Whitmore) |
In the rocky intertidal zone of Nahant, MA, Littorina obtusata are usually found on one of two brown algae: Fucus spiralis or Ascophyllum nodosum. On our first trip to Nahant I started looking specifically at L. obtusata and its location on these two certain algae. The L. obtusata, as baby snails, are found in the air pockets of A. nodosum, because of this I also wondered if they tended to stay on the A. nodosum as smaller snails and went to the Fucus as larger snails. When I was picking out snails I tried to pick the biggest ones I could find, hoping that the majority would choose Fucus. The Fucus is usually found underneath the Ascophyllum, another possibility of why the snails might be found there, because the snails are larger, and more easily targeted by predators. |
| Ascophyllum -> |  |
<- Fucus |