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Predator-induced shell plasticity in mussels hinders predation by drilling snails

Zachary T. Sherker, Julius A. Ellrich, View ORCID ProfileRicardo A. Scrosati
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/124784
Zachary T. Sherker
St. Francis Xavier University, Department of Biology, Antigonish, Nova Scotia B2G 2W5, Canada
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Julius A. Ellrich
St. Francis Xavier University, Department of Biology, Antigonish, Nova Scotia B2G 2W5, Canada
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Ricardo A. Scrosati
St. Francis Xavier University, Department of Biology, Antigonish, Nova Scotia B2G 2W5, Canada
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  • ORCID record for Ricardo A. Scrosati
  • For correspondence: rscrosat@stfx.ca
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ABSTRACT

Sessile invertebrate prey that detect waterborne predator cues often respond by strengthening their structural defenses. Experimental evidence of the functional significance of such modifications using field-raised organisms is lacking. This study addresses that gap using intertidal mussels and predatory dogwhelks from Atlantic Canada. During the spring and summer of 2016, we ran a field experiment that manipulated dogwhelk presence to test their nonconsumptive effects on mussel traits. Dogwhelk cues elicited thickening at the lip, centre, and base of mussel shells, although simultaneously limiting shell growth in length. As shell mass was unaffected by dogwhelk presence, a trade-off between shell thickening and elongation was revealed. Thickening was strongest at the thinnest parts of the shell. Using the field-raised organisms, a lab experiment found that dogwhelks took, on average, 55 % longer to drill and consume mussels previously exposed to dogwhelk cues than mussels grown without such a cue exposure. Dogwhelks drilled at the thinnest parts of the shell but, nonetheless, the consumed cue-exposed mussels had thicker shells at the borehole than the consumed mussels not exposed to cues, which likely explains the observed difference in handling time. As handling time normally decreases predation success, this study indicates that the plastic structural modifications in mussels triggered by dogwhelk cues in the field hinder predation by these drilling predators.

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The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission.
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Posted April 06, 2017.
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Predator-induced shell plasticity in mussels hinders predation by drilling snails
Zachary T. Sherker, Julius A. Ellrich, Ricardo A. Scrosati
bioRxiv 124784; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/124784
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Predator-induced shell plasticity in mussels hinders predation by drilling snails
Zachary T. Sherker, Julius A. Ellrich, Ricardo A. Scrosati
bioRxiv 124784; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/124784

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