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Control of Tellinacean (Mollusca: Bivalvia) Feeding Behavior by Predation 1
Author(s) -
Levinton Jeffrey S.
Publication year - 1971
Publication title -
limnology and oceanography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.7
H-Index - 197
eISSN - 1939-5590
pISSN - 0024-3590
DOI - 10.4319/lo.1971.16.4.0660
Subject(s) - bivalvia , mollusca , bay , predation , biology , siphon (mollusc) , macoma balthica , fishery , ecology , substrate (aquarium) , oceanography , zoology , geology
Macoma tenta, a small tellinacean deposit‐feeding bivalve, inhabiting shallow‐water subtidal muddy bottoms of Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, deposit feeds only at night in its natural habitat. This was determined by in situ studies in Quisset Harbor using time‐lapse underwater movie photography and by observations of feeding animals in running seawater aquaria. This feeding periodicity is probably selected to avoid exposure of the siphon to predation by bottom‐feeding fishes, and feeding behavior in the Tellinacea is thus controlled by predation and substrate.