Abundance, Diversity, and Resource Use in an Assemblage of Conus Species in Enewetak Lagoon
Abundance, Diversity, and Resource Use in an Assemblage of Conus Species in Enewetak Lagoon
Date
1980-10
Authors
Kohn, Alan J.
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Publisher
University of Hawaii Press
Abstract
Eight species of the gastropod genus Conus co-occur in sand
substrate and an adjacent meadow of Halimeda stuposa in Enewetak lagoon,
an unusually diverse assemblage for this type of habitat. Population density is
high, and large species predominate; they represent all major feeding groups in
the genus: predators on polychaetes, enteropneusts, gastropods, and fishes.
Although the two most common Conus species eat primarily the same prey
species, they mainly take prey of different sizes in different microhabitats. The
results suggest that sufficient microhabitat heterogeneity and prey diversity
exist to permit spatial segregation and specialization on different prey resources
by the different Conus species present. Between-species dissimilarity in
resource use thus agrees with previous observations on more diverse Conus
assemblages of subtidal coral reef platforms. Prey species diversity is inversely
related to body size, confirming and extending a previously identified pattern
among Conus species that prey on sedentary polychaetes.
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Citation
Kohn AJ. 1980. Abundance, diversity, and resource use in an assemblage of Conus species in Enewetak Lagoon. Pac Sci 34(4): 359-369.
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