Native Gastropods and Introduced Crabs: Shell Morphology And
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University of New Hampshire University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository Master's Theses and Capstones Student Scholarship Winter 2006 Native gastropods and introduced crabs: Shell morphology and resistance to predation in the New England rocky intertidal zone Sarah Joanne Teck University of New Hampshire, Durham Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.unh.edu/thesis Recommended Citation Teck, Sarah Joanne, "Native gastropods and introduced crabs: Shell morphology and resistance to predation in the New England rocky intertidal zone" (2006). Master's Theses and Capstones. 249. https://scholars.unh.edu/thesis/249 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Scholarship at University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses and Capstones by an authorized administrator of University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. NATIVE GASTROPODS AND INTRODUCED CRABS: SHELL MORPHOLOGY AND RESISTANCE TO PREDATION IN THE NEW ENGLAND ROCKY INTERTIDAL ZONE BY SARAH JOANNE TECK B.A., Middlebury College, 2001 THESIS Submitted to the University of New Hampshire in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Zoology December, 2006 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 1439295 INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. ® UMI UMI Microform 1439295 Copyright 2007 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. This thesis has been examined and approved. Thesis Director^r. Larry G. Harris, Professor of Zoology Dr^anies E. Byers, Associate Professor of Zoology Dr.^fliornas D. Lee,"Associate Professor of Forest Ecology Dr. J^mes T. Carlton, Professor of Marine Sciences at The Maritime Studies Program of Williams College and Mystic Seaport fa fif C Date Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. FUNDING This work was supported by grants from the Center for Marine Biology, the Department of Zoology, and the Graduate School of the University of New Hampshire. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thank you, Dr. Larry Harris for all of your continued support, guidance, and generosity over the past few years. I will always remember your encouragement to keep exploring, observing, and writing everything down. These are valuable lessons that will stay with me in all of my future studies. Thank you, Dr. Tom Lee for your inspiration in community ecology class and also outside of class. Your enthusiasm for both the history and present applications of ecology is contagious. Thank you, Dr. Jeb Byers for your constructive comments and insights on this work, especially with an eye for the analyses. Working with you has really taught me the value of taking broad-scale ecological concepts and applying them to my research in a meaningful way. Thank you, Dr. Jim Carlton; you inspired me to shift my path in 2000 and begin my exploration of science as a career. I have learned that taking a holistic approach to research and teaching will yield more meaningful results. I truly appreciate your unceasing support, kindness, and generosity. Thank you, graduate students from the Harris and Byers labs: Irit Altman, April Blakeslee, Jenn Dijkstra, Aaren Freeman, Blaine Griffen, Wan Jean Lee, John Meyer, Laura Page, and Erica Westerman for all of your detailed feedback throughout the multiple stages of my research. Thank you to the following undergraduate assistants who volunteered in the lab and in the field, creating their own projects and assisting with aspects of my research: Jillian Armstrong, Scott Conley, Stephanie Doyle, Brian Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Donohue, Jilli Dur, Chris Hunt, Kathryn Lanza, Emily Strauss, Jessica Ware, Carolyn Gordon, and Anthony Dutton. Thanks go out to faculty, staff, and students from the Maritime Studies Program of Williams College-Mystic Seaport in Mystic, CT. For assistance in the field, thank you Rachel Fineman for your positive attitude and bright spirit even before the sun rises. Thank you for assistance in providing housing, supplies, and a welcome home away from home: Michelle Armsby, Nicole Dobrowski, Deniz Haydar, Mary O'Loughlin, and Amanda Severin. Thank you, Drs. Becky Warner, Jana Davis, Lara Gengarelly, Tim Miller, Pablo Munguia, Michelle Scott, and Catherine deRivera for assistance on various matters including statistical analyses and presentation of my thesis-work. Thank you, Dr. Andy Rosenberg for motivating me to contemplate broad ecological questions that have conservation implications, which I will carry with me to my future career. Thank you, Dr. Steve Hale for introducing me to the art of teaching the ecology lab during my first year at UNH. Thank you, fellow researchers and staff at the Coastal Marine Lab at the University of New Hampshire in Newcastle, NH including Noel Carlson and Nate Rennels for your technical assistance. Thank you to Nancy Wallingford and Diane Lavalliere for your assistance with many essential details pertaining to being a graduate student in the Department of Zoology, and thanks to Dr. Jim Haney for providing additional assistance especially with regard to my thesis defense. Thank you to my friends who have not only spent countless hours talking about science but also have been a network of support for me during the times when I needed it v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. most: Irit Altman, Michelle Chalfoun, Amy Cline, Ben Galuardi, Deniz Haydar, Tami Huber, Kate Magness, Chris Rillahan, Lynn Rutter, Amy Wolf, and Erika Zollett. Thank you to my family Patricia Teck, Julio Lorda Solorzano, Rose Marie and Eijk Van Otterloo, and Myma Teck and Loren Amdursky for all of your love and kindness. I am grateful to my parents Bruce and Susan Teck; your spirits will always live inside me encouraging me to persevere and follow my dreams. vi Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS FUNDING...........................................................................................................................iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.................................................................................................iv LIST OF TABLES...............................................................................................................xi LIST OF FIGURES...........................................................................................................xiii ABSTRACT........................................................................................................................xv CHAPTER PAGE GENERAL INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................1 Predator-Prey Interactions ..............................................................................................1 Unsuccessful Predation .................................................................................................. 3 Variability in Shell Form............................................................................................... 4 Littorina saxatilis Variability in the Northeast Atlantic................................................6 Predators of Littorina saxatilis in the Northwest Atlantic............................................ 8 Littorina saxatilis Variability in the Northwest Atlantic...........................................10 I. VARIATION IN LITTORINA SAXATILIS MORPHOLOGY ACROSS NEW ENGLAND: SHELL THICKNESS AND EVIDENCE OF CRAB PREDATION ATTEMPTS Abstract......................................................................................................................... 13 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 14 vii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. History of Non-native Crabs in New England ....................................................... 17 Objectives ...............................................................................................................19 Methods........................................................................................................................20 Field Sites ...............................................................................................................20 Sample Sizes and Height Ranges for Examining