Grazing and residence of the marine gastropod Lacuna vincta on cultivated kelp

Details

• Journal Title:
  Journal of Applied Phycology
• Personal Author:
  Blaine, Cara A. ; Suskiewicz, Thew ; Frederich, Markus ; Byron, Carrie J.
• NOAA Program & Office:
  OAR (Oceanic and Atmospheric Research) ; Sea Grant
• Description:
  The marine snail Lacuna vincta is a generalist mesograzer that is fouling kelp farms in the northern Atlantic. Often found on the blades of naturally occuring kelp, L. vincta’s larval dispersal and ability to migrate post-metamorphosis allow it to encounter and settle upon cultivated kelp blades located in the upper water column. Once settled, L. vincta graze and lay eggs on kelp, causing losses in profit for some farmers and kelp processors when eggs are too costly or difficult to remove. The patchy distribution of L. vincta within and between kelp farms led us to test snail preferences between 1) “healthy” (nutrient-enhanced) and “stressed” (unenhanced) farmed Saccharina latissima (sugar kelp) and between 2) farmed S. latissima and Saccharina angustissima (skinny kelp). We measured grazed area and number of snails residing on kelp between treatments and compared grazing between large and small size classes, though snail size was not tested statistically. Trial 1 in the first experiment and trials 1 and 2 in the second showed significant differences in grazing area while others did not, however there were more snails of the large size class found on both the nutrient-enhanced kelp in the first experiment and on the S. angustissima in the second. We also found a strong relationship between the amount of L. vincta snails present and the amount of kelp area grazed in both experiments. These results suggest that herbivory preference due to the differences in nutritive content and between S. lastissima and S. angustissima work alongside many other factors that attract L. vincta to some kelp blades and not others. This study contributes to best management practices for farmers when designing kelp farms and choosing which species to cultivate.
• Source:
  Journal of Applied Phycology, 37(1), 699-710
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-024-03391-y
• ISSN:
  0921-8971 ; 1573-5176
• Format:
  pdf
• Publisher:
  Springer Science and Business Media LLC
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  Grant no. NA22OAR4170121
• Rights Information:
  Accepted Manuscript
• Compliance:
  Submitted
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:9be8936ce5f766c479102fbee8753df0de5a4a52c9eebc217c73d38ef11b8257136f2f55efb53265b20066d103b682a03839a83f05e176b9c43ee8ecbc22c39e
• Download URL:
  https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/72208/noaa_72208_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.12 MB ]