Skip Navigation

American Zoologist 1972 12(3):427-443; doi:10.1093/icb/12.3.427
© 1972 by The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Request Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by BERG, C. J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Ontogeny of the Behavior of Strombus maculatus (Gastropoda: Strombidae)

CARL J. BERG, JR.
Department of Zoology, University of Hawaii Honolulu, Hawaii 96822

The ontogeny of strombid behavior was studied by observing the behavior of Strombus maculatus veligers collected from the plankton and reared past metamorphosis to adults, and by observing juvenile strombids collected in the field. Complete adult modal action patterns (MAP's) associated with locomotion, feeding, and righting of overturned shells are performed by S. maculatus juveniles immediately after metamorphosis. There are changes in the frequency of the use of certain MAP's which are associated with variations in shell shape and size.

The unique strombid escape response to molluscivorous gastropods (Conns spp.) is not released until juvenile S. maculatus are three weeks past metamorphosis and two millimeters in shell length. At that stage, the complete response is released upon the first encounter with a predator. Experience with a predator does not seem to lower the age or size criteria.

During ontogeny there is a trend toward an increasing complexity of behavior which is paralleled by an increasing complexity of neural structure and general morphology. There are major steps in the ontogeny of strombid behavior which probably coincide with neural and morphological stages.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.