Diet of Cypraea caputdraconis (Mollusca: Gastropoda) As It Relates to Food Availability in Easter Island
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1993-01
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University of Hawaii Press
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Abstract
Diet and food preferences of Easter Island's endemic cowrie,
Cypraea caputdraconis (Melvill), are reported. Gut content analyses of specimens
from different rocky intertidal localities around the island revealed that C.
caputdraconis is primarily an herbivore. Algae composed > 90% of the cowrie's
diet in all cases. Five algal genera, Cladophora, Sphacelaria, Ceramium,
Galaxaura, and Pterocladia, were the most frequent and abundant items in the
diet of C. caputdraconis. The feeding habits of C. caputdraconis are most similar
to those of C. caputserpentis L. from Hawaii in that both have clearly
herbivorous diets. Both species share the R-l type of taenioglossan radula, which
also supports their close phylogenetic relationship. Indo-West Pacific populations
of C. caputserpentis have been suggested as ancestral to C. caputdraconis
from Easter Island.
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Osorio C, Jara F, Ramirez ME. 1993. Diet of Cypraea caputdraconis (Mollusca: Gastropoda) as it relates to food availability in Easter Island. Pac Sci 47(1): 34-42.
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