Abstract
At higher latitudes along the west coast of the USA the herbivorous intertidal snail Tegula funebralis (Adams, 1854) lives longer, grows more slowly, but attains a larger size than further south. To the north, age distributions are less predictable and often far from stationary. The differences, which have some generality, can be explained either by a primary temperature effect joined with increased hazards to planktonic larvae in the north, or else may result from a combination of interactions between intensity of predation, population density and food supply. Growth rates of transplanted individuals suggest a genetic basis for the latitudinal differences.
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Communicated by J.S. Pearse, Santa Cruz
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Frank, P. Latitudinal variation in the life history features of the black turban snail Tegula funebralis (Prosobranchia: Trochidae). Mar. Biol. 31, 181–192 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00391630
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00391630