Vol. 63, 2024
(update: 2024.1.26)
Habitat Partitioning in Two Intertidal Limpets, Siphonaria guamensis (Heterobranchia) and Patelloida saccharina (Patellogastropoda), from Southern Thailand
Suphatsara Sangphueak1, Tin Yan Hui2,3, Sarah L.Y. Lau2, Gray A. Williams2, and Kringpaka Wangkulangkul1,*
doi:-
1Division
of Biological Science, Faculty of Science, Prince of Songkla
University, Songkhla, Thailand. *Correspondence: E-mail:
kringpaka.w@psu.ac.th (Wangkulangkul)
E-mail: suphatsara.skk@gmail.com (Sangphueak)
2The
Swire Institute of Marine Science and Area of Ecology &
Biodiversity, The School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong
Kong, Hong Kong SAR, PR China. E-mail: pritommy@gmail.com (Hui);
sarahlly@connect.hku.hk (Lau); hrsbwga@hku.hk (Williams)
3Science Unit, Lingnan University, Hong Kong SAR, PR China
(Received 9 August 2023 / Accepted 13 January 2024 / Published -- 2024)
Communicated by Benny K.K. Chan
Mobile
intertidal animals exhibit various strategies during emersion to
mediate the impact of heat and desiccation, including behavioural
adaptations such as moving to lower tidal levels and seeking thermal
refuges which can result in spatial partitioning between species within
the intertidal environment. We tested whether the limpets, Siphonaria guamensis (Heterobranchia) and Patelloida saccharina
(Patellogastropoda), exhibited differential habitat use during tidal
emersion by quantifying their abundance and size distribution in
various habitats on two rocky shores on the west coast of Thailand. S. guamensis inhabited higher shore levels with hotter average rock temperatures when emersed as compared to P. saccharina. On one of the shores, large S. guamensis lived at higher tidal levels than smaller individuals, whereas large P. saccharina showed the reverse pattern, being found lower on the shore than smaller individuals. The abundance of S. guamensis was positively related to the shore slope, with more individuals found on vertical than horizontal rocks, while P. saccharina showed
a negative relationship between abundance and algal cover. At the
heights where they were most abundant, both species were more often
found in bare rock habitats as opposed to crevices and areas dominated
by oyster shells, despite the fact that bare rock was as hot as, or
even hotter than other microhabitats. The exact resting locations of
the two species were, however, cooler than the mean temperature of the
bare rock. In general, limpets did not exhibit a strong preference for
any particular rock orientation but S. guamensis
on one shore was more abundant on east-facing rocks as compared to
other aspects. As a result, although thermal stress appears to be a
driver for habitat partitioning between species (occupying different
tidal heights), temperature alone is unable to explain distribution
patterns within species as limpets were not adopting to thermal refuges
during tidal emersion. Variations in the physical environments adopted
may be mediated by species-specific morphological and/or physiological
adaptations which determine the distribution of different limpet
species on western Thailand rocky shores.
Key words: Bhavioural adaptations, Vcal distribution, Termal stress, Topical rocky shore, Hitat selection
Citation: Sangphueak S, Hui TY, Lau SLY, Williams GA, Wangkulangkul K2024. Habitat partitioning in two intertidal limpets, Siphonaria guamensis (Heterobranchia) and Patelloida saccharina (Patellogastropoda), from southern Thailand. Zool Stud 63:11.
Supplementary materials: Fig. S1丨Fig. S2丨Table S1
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