Keywords
rocky littoral
trophic relations
Sucre State
Venezuela
moluscos
litoral rocoso
relaciones tróficas
Estado de Sucre
Venezuela
How to Cite
Abstract
Mollusc community structure and trophic relations in the rochy littoral zone in Sucre State, Venezuela. We analyzed the structure of a mollusc community and its component trophic relations at six localities within a rocky littoral zone, in Sucre State, Venezuela, including areas that are both exposed to, and protected from, wave energy. Sampling was carried out from March 2003 to Febreuary 2004 period, in an area subdivided in to supralittoral, littoral and sublittoral zones. Samples were collected using hand-held spoons within 0.25 m2 quadrats along transects sited perpendicular to the coast line transects. Collected organisms were preserved in 10% formalin for subsequent taxonomic classification. Specific richness and constance were determined, and the four trophic categories of herbivore, suspendivore, carnivore and herbivore-suspendivore were established. Overall 14 581 individual specimens were collected that represented 68 species, 31 families and 9 orders, in the classes Gasteropoda (n=39), Bivalvia (n=23) and Polyplacophora (n=6). Suspension feeders were the dominant trophic category (49%), followed by carnivores (37%), herbivores (13%) and herbivores-suspension feeders (1%). Herbivores and suspension feeders were dominant in the protected area, while carnivores and suspension feeders were dominant in the exposed area. Data indicate that mollusc distribution and intergroupal trophic relations are controlled by both morphological features and substrate composition. Rev. Biol. Trop. 54 (Suppl. 3): 121-130. Epub 2007 Jan. 15.References
Abbott, R. 1974. American Seashells. 2nd ed. Van Nostrand Reinhold, Nueva York, EEUU. 663 p.
Abbott, R. 1994. Conchas marinas del Mundo. Trillas, Guías del Saber, México. 173 p.
Abbott, R. & P. Morris. 1995. Shells of the Atlantic & Gulf Coast & The West Indies. Peterson Field Guides. Houghton Mifflin, Boston, Massachussetts, EEUU. 350 p.
Almeida, P. 1974. Distribución de los moluscos en las costas centro-occidental (Patanemo-Pta. Tucacas) de Venezuela. Comparación de hábitats litorales. Mem. Soc. Cienc. Nat. La Salle. 34: 24-32.
Bianchi, C.N. & C. Morri. 1985. I policheti come descrittori della struttura trofica degli ecosistemi marini. Oebalia 11: 203-214.
Connell, J.B. 1961. The influence of interspecific competition and other factors on the distribution of the barnacle Chatamalus stellatus. Ecology 42: 710-723.
Contreras, R., F. Cruz & A. Ibáñez. 1991. Ecological observations of the molluscs of the rocky intermedital zone at Chamela Bay, Jalisco, México. An. Inst. Biol. Univ. Nac. Auton. Mex. Zool. 64: 17-32.
Damianidis, P. & C. Chintiroglou. 2000. Structure and functions of Polychaetofauna living in Mytilus galloprovincialis assemblages in Thermaikos Gulf (north Aegean sea). Ocean. Act. 23: 110-118.
Denley, E. & A. Underwood. 1979. Experiments on factors influencing the settlement survival and growth of two species of barnacles in New South Wales. J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 13: 111-158.
Díaz, J. & Puyana, M. 1994. Moluscos del Caribe Colombiano. Un catálogo ilustrado. COLCIENCIAS, Fundación Natura e INVEMAR, Bogotá, Colombia. 367 p.
Doty, S. 1957. Rocky intertidal surfaces. E.W. Hedgth (ed). Treatise on Marine Ecology and Paleocology. Geol. Soc. Amer. Mem. 67: 535-545.
Fukuoka, J. 1966. Coastal upwelling near Venezuela (II): Anual periodicities of hydrographical conditions. Bol. Inst. Oceanogr. Venezuela, Univ. Oriente 5: 84-95.
Garrity, S. & H. Levings. 1981. A predator-prey interaction between two physically and biologically constrained tropical rocky shore gastropods: direct and comunity effects. Ecol. Monogr. 51: 267-286.
Greenway, M. 1995. Trophic relationships of macrofauna within a Jamaica seagrass meadow and the role of the echinoid Lythechinus variegatus (Lamarck). Bull. Mar. Sci. 56: 719-736.
Hughes, R.N. 1986. A Functional Biology of Marine Gastropods. Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, Baltimore, Maryland, EEUU. 245 p.
Humfrey, M. 1975. Sea Shell of the West Indies. William Collins Sons, Glasgow, Escocia, Reino Unido. 351 p.
Jiménez, M., B. Márquez & O. Díaz. 2004. Moluscos del litoral rocoso en cuatro localidades del Estado Sucre, Venezuela. Saber, Univ. de Oriente 16: 8-17.
Krebs, C. 1989. Ecological Methodological. Harper & Row, Nueva York, EEUU 654 p.
Lewis R.J. 1972. The ecology of rocky shores. A biological or physical entity. Oikos 12: 280-301.
Margalef, R. 1995. Ecología. Editorial Omega, Barcelona, España. 951 p.
Marval, J. 1986. Diversidad de moluscos en dos playas rocosas de la Isla de Margarita, Venezuela. Tesis Pregrado, Dept. Biología, Univ. Oriente, Cumaná, Venezuela. 127 p.
Menge, B.A. & J.P. Sutherland. 1976. Species diversity gradients: synthesis of the roles of predation, competition, and temporal heterogeneity. Am. Nat. 110: 351-369.
Menge, B.A., J. Lubchenco & L.R. Ashkenas. 1985. Diversity, heterogeneity, and consumer pressure in a tropical rocky intertidal community. Oecologia 65: 394-405.
Menge, B.A., J. Lubchenco, L.R. Ashkenas & F. Ramsey. 1986. Experimental separation of effects of consumers on sessile prey in the zone of a rocky shore in the Bay of Panama: direct and indirect consequences of food web complexity. J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 100: 225-269.
Mille, S., M. Parra & A. Pérez. 1993. Guía para la identificación de invertebrados. Edit. Trillas, México, D.F. 465 p.
Ojeda, F.P. & J.H. Dearborn. 1991. Feeding ecology of benthic mobile predators: experimental analyses of their influence in rocky subtidal communities of the Gulf of Maine. J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 149: 13-44.
Olabarría, C., J. Caraballo & C. Vega. 2001. Cambios espacio-temporales en la estructura trófica de asociaciones de moluscos del intermareal rocoso en un sustrato tropical. Cienc. Mar. 27: 235-254.
Odum, P. 1984. Ecología. 6ta ed. Edit. Continental, México, D.F. 295 p.
Paine, R.T. 1974. Intertidal community structure: experimental studies on the relationship between a dominant competidor and its principal predator. Oecologia 15: 93-120.
Paine, R.T. 1976. Food web complexity and species diversity. Am. Nat. 100: 65-75.
Pointier, J. & D. Lamy. 1998. Guía de moluscos y caracolas de mar del Caribe. M y G, Barcelona, España. 225 p.
Rueda, D. 2000. Variabilidad temporal de la distribución vertical de la biomasa fitoplanctónica en la depresión oriental de la cuenca de Cariaco y sus relaciones con los aspectos hidrográficos al estrato superficial (1996-1998). Tesis MSc, Univ. Oriente, Cumaná, Venezuela. 95 p.
Sant, S. & A. De Grado. 1997. Zonación de un litoral rocoso en la costa sur del Golfo de Cariaco (Quetepe), Estado Sucre, Venezuela. Saber Univ. Oriente 9: 69-75.
Sthephenson, T. & A. Sthephenson. 1949. The universal features of zonation between tide on rocky coast. Ecology 37: 289-305.
Sokal, R. & F.J. Rohlf. 1981. Biometry. Freeman, Nueva York, EEUU 859 p.
Vera, B. 1978. Introducción al conocimiento taxoecológico de la comunidad Talabais en aguas costeras de la región nor-oriental del Estado Sucre. Tesis Pregrado, Dept. Biol., Univ. Oriente, Cumaná. 101 p.
Villafranca, S. & M. Jiménez. 2004. Abundancia y diversidad de moluscos asociados al mejillón verde Perna viridis (Bivalvia: Mytilidae) en Guayacán, Edo. Sucre, Venezuela. Bol. Inst. Oceanogr. Venezuela, Univ. Oriente 43: 65-76.
Warmke, G. & Abbott, T. 1962. Caribbean Seashells. Dover Publications. Nueva York, EEUU 348 p.
Weinberg, S. 1978. The minimal area problem in invertebrate communities of mediterranean rocky substratc. Mar. Biol. 49: 33-40.
Williams G. 1994. The relations lup between shade and molluscan grazing in structuring communities on a moderately-exposed tropical rocky shore. J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 178: 79-95.
Work, R. 1969. Systematic ecology and distribution of the mollusc of Los Roques, Venezuela. Bull. Mar. Sci. 19: 614-711.
Comments
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2006 Revista de Biología Tropical