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<I>Cittarium Pica</I> A STUDY OF THE GROWTH AND OTHER ASPECTS OF THE BIOLOGY OF THE WEST INDIAN TOPSHELL, CITT ARIUM PICA (LINNAEUS) I HELEN A. RANDALL Institute of Marine Biology, University of Puerto Rico, Mayagiiez, P.R. ABSTRACT Various aspects of the biology of Cittariurn pica (Linnaeus, 1758) are discussed, including habitat, feeding habits, growth, movements, reproduc- tion, predators, and commensals. Marking and tagging experiments to determine growth rate are described. INTRODUCTION The West Indian topshell, Cittarium pica (Linnaeus, 1758) (=Livona pica), sometimes known as the magpie shell, is a well known littoral gastropod which attains a size of four inches. It is widely used as food and is probably second in economic importance only to the queen conch, Strombus gigas Linnaeus, among the gastropods of the Caribbean region. The shell is turbiniform and moderately heavy. It is strikingly colored with irregular markings of black and white (Fig. 1). There is considerable variation in color pattern, some individuals being primarily black with few white markings while others are predominantly white. White seems to be the ground color of the young (Fig. 2). The white of the shell is often greenish or yellowish, probably from staining by the blue-green alga Plectonema terebrans Bornet & Flahault (identified by H. J. Humm) which penetrates the upper calcareous layers. There is no periostracum, and in larger individuals the first few whorls are usually eroded. The older parts of many shells are overgrown with algae, particularly the calcareous red, Goniolithon b¢rgesenii Foslie. The interior of the aperature is pearly and the round chitinous operculum, which fits snugly, is translucent olive (drying to brown) with the spirals showing clearly. The shell makes an attractive curio either when polished to the nacreous layer or with its outer black and white coloration intact. It is used by adults of the land hermit crab Coenobita clypeatus (Herbst) more than any other West Indian shell. Topshells inhabited by this crab were found near the 1277-foot summit of Bordeaux Mountain, the highest point on St. John, more than one mile from the sea. In contrast to the related genus Trochus of the Indo-Pacific, almost IContribution No. 558 from The Marine Laboratory, Institute of Marine Science, University of Miami. Contribution from the Institute of Marine Biology, University of Puerto Rico. The research reported herein was supported in part by grant G·5941 from the National Science Foundation. 1964] H. Randall: Biology of Cittarium 425 nothing is known of the natural history of the monotypic Cittarium. Aware of this and appreciative of its high gastronomic quality, a study of some aspects of its biology was undertaken as part of a nearly three-year marine biological survey of St. John, Virgin Islands, which commenced in late 1958. This survey was begun while the author was a member of the Institute of Marine Science of the University of Miami and completed while associated with the Institute of Marine Biology of the University of Puerto Rico. Support of the research in the Virgin Islands was provided by Federal Aid in Fish Restoration (Dingell-Johnson Project F-2-R of the Virgin Islands), the National Science Foundation (G-5941) and the National Park Service. The assistance of Herman E. Kumpf, James R. Chess, and John E. Randall in field work is gratefully acknowledged. Thanks are also due Luis R. Almodovar and Harold J. Humm for determinations of the algae from Cittarium stomachs and to Peter W. Glynn and Germaine L. Warmke for reviewing the manuscript. CLASSIFICATION AND DISTRIBUTION The West Indian topshell was described as Turbo pica by Linnaeus in 1758. Gray (1842) in the 44th edition of his "Synopses of the contents of the British Museum" listed the generic name Livona with a brief descrip- tion that was not diagnostic and which mentioned no species. In his 1843 edition of the "Synopses" Gray lists one species, aurea, under the genus Livona, describing it only as "peculiar for the light golden colour of the pearl." In November 1847 he regarded pica as the type of the genus. Cittarium Philippi (February, 1847) had already appeared with pica the sole species (literature reviewed by R. Tucker Abbott, by request); therefore Livona would seem to be a synonym of Cittarium, as indicated by Iredale (1913) who wrote, "A name that seems to need rejection is FIGURE 1. Two views of an adult Cittarium pica from St. John, Virgin Islands. Length of shell 97 mm. Personal collection. 426 Bulletin of Marine Science of the Gulf and Caribbean [14(3) Livona. In 1840 it is a nomen nudum; in 1842 it is indeterminable; in 1843 it is associated with a shell which is certainly not the one selected as the type in 1847." Rehder (1962), however, prefers to retain £ivona. Clench & Abbott (1943) selected Linnaeus's reference to Gaultieri (1742: p1. 68, fig. B) as the type figure. They regarded the locality given by Linnaeus, the Sea of Sardinia, as erroneous and designated Martinique as the type locality (after Denys de Montfort, 1810). Clench & Abbott have listed numerous Caribbean localities for the species, and Warmke & Abbott (1961: map 7) have indicated a distri- bution throughout the West Indies and the Central and South American coast from upper Yucatan to Trinidad. Clench & Abbott have discussed the occurrence of C. pica as a fossil in Florida and Bermuda (an attempt to reintroduce it into Bermuda was not successful) and expressed their belief that the species died out from these two areas in comparatively recent times. HABITAT Morris (1947) stated that Cittarium pica in the West Indies lives 0[1 weedy bottoms in moderately shallow water. If one interprets a weedy bottom as seagrass or algae growing on a substratum of sand or other sediment, then his concept of the habitat is erroneous. Cittarium pica lives on rocky shores, and primarily those subjected to at least some wave action. It occurs from slightly above the water level to several feet below, but is usually within two feet of the surface. In general, the smaller shells are found higher in the intertidal zone. Lewis (1960) cited the young as occurring in the "pink zone" above mean low water at Barbados. Cittarium does not occur in brackish areas, such as mangrove sloughs, but whether this is related primarily to the difference in salinity, more turbid water or lack of wave action is not known. FIGURE 2. Juvenile Cittarium pica from Puerto Rico. Length of shell 5 mm. 1MB 3179. 1964] H. Randall: Biology of Cittarium 427 Cittarium pica is one of the more abundant of mollusks in the West Indies, and probably the most common large gastropod of the exposed rocky littoral region. As pointed out by Clench & Abbott (1943), however, the larger topshells may be difficult to find in the vicinity of populous areas because of their heavy use as food. The principal area of the present study was Europa Bay on the southern shore of St. John (Randall, 1962: figs. 1 and 2). This is the westernmost of the three smaller embayments of Lameshur Bay. Unlike the other two, which have sandy beaches and little or no surf, the beach of Europa Bay is entirely rocky (Fig. 3). Because it faces southeast it receives almost continuous small surf, usually less than 18 inches high. The bay supports a large population of Cittarium pica, not only because of the suitable habitat but also by being distant from the centers of population on the island. Occasional fishermen collect "whelks" (as topshells are called in the Virgin Islands) at even the remote sectOrs of St. John, therefore a large sign was posted indicating that a study of whelks was in progress and requesting that none be removed from the bay. FOOD HABITS The stomach contents of 40 specimens of Cittarium pica from 25 to 77 mm in length (measured from tip of spire to most distant edge of lip) FIGURE 3. Europa Bay, St. John, Virgin Islands, the site of the growth study of Cittarium pica. View toward the southwest. 428 Bulletin of Marine Science of the Gulf and Caribbean [14(3) TABLE 1 STOMACHCONTENTS OF Cittarium pica, BY VOLUME, FROM THE VIRGIN ISLANDSANDPUERTO RICO Lameshur Europa Point Ram Head Europa Bay, Bay, Higuero Bay near Bay, LOCALITY St. John, St. John, & Ramey Ram Head, St. John, V.1. V.I. Beach, St. John, V.1. P.R. V.1. NUMBER OF SHELLS 10 5 10 5 10 ----- LENGTH OF SHELL (mm) 25-40 34-44 37-47 40-57 60-77 Blue-green algae 10% 17% 27% 50% 12% Agmenellum quadruplicatum x A nacystis marina x x x Calothrix x x Dichothrix x Lyngbya majuscula x x x x Microcoleus x Oscil/atoria x x x X Phormidium x Plectonema nostocorum x X Green algae 13% 14% 5% 9% Cladophoropsis membranacea x Ulvella lens (and other x x x x coccoid greens) Red algae 12% 19% 1% 1% 12% Amphiroa fragilissima x Asterocystis ramOsa x Ceramium cruciatum x Coelothrix irregularis x x x x Corallina cubensis x Gelidium corneum x x x x Laurencia obtusa x x x Polysiphonia x x x Brown algae 10% 12% 9% 12% Dictyota divaricata x Padina gymnospora x x x Pocokiella variegata x Ralfsia expansa x x x Sphacelaria furcigera x Diatoms 8% 10% 3% 12% Organic detritus 10% 15% 20% 15% 18% Sand, spicules and calcareous 37% 13% 49% 20% 25% debris (pieces of shell and fragments of calcareous alga such as Halimeda) 19641 H. Randaii: BlOlogy of Cittarium 429 were exammeo lTable 1). The data strongly suggest that this gastropod is herbivorous, although it does ingest some detrital material.
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