Adaptive visually‐mediated movements ofLittorina irrorata(Mollusca: Gastropoda) when displaced from their natural habitat

Abstract

Littorina irrorata displaced from their natural location amid plant stems in the upper inter‐tidal zone to areas of intertidal zone devoid of vegetation, oriented onshore under all sky and light conditions tested. The responses of snails tested in experimental arenas in the upper intertidal zone indicated that the natural substrate slope of 3 degrees was ignored in favor of movement toward a black paper rectangle. Subsequent releases on natural substrate supported the conclusion that the onshore‐oriented response resulted from visual perception of a dark area (bushes and trees near the high tide line). Where vegetation was equally tall in all directions, snails oriented toward the closest vegetation regardless of the actual onshore direction.