Predatory evidence in the high-latitude cold-water gastropod Buccinanops deformis (King, 1832) from the Holocene littoral sand ridges, Argentina, SW Atlantic

CATALINA GÓMEZ-ESPINOSA; ESTER A. FARINATI; SALVADOR ALIOTTA

Boletín de la sociedad Geológica Mexicana

Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico

Año: 2018 vol. 70 p. 293 - 305

1405-3322

In this study investigates the predatory activity on a Holocene gastropodfrom the Argentinean MalacologicalProvince. Buccinanops deformis (King,1832), endemic in the southernhemisphere, is a typical taxon ofcold-waters and high latitudes. Weobserved direct evidence of durophagy as lethal and sublethal damage.Sublethal damage was studied usingtraces of repaired shell as an indicator of activity by durophagous predators. Three parameters were usedto evaluate durophagous predation:frequency of predation, repair scarfrequency and prey effectiveness. Apredatory-prey interaction was identified between Danielethus crenulatus(A. Milne-Edwards, 1879) and B.deformis during the Holocene on theArgentinean littoral coast. The lowvalue observed for shell repair frequency (0.06), the low frequency ofpredation (0.16), and the intermediate value for prey effectiveness (0.37)may be interpreted because of a lowbut effective predatory activity