Boletín de la Sociedad Geológica Mexicana ISSN: 1405-3322 Sociedad Geológica Mexicana, A.C. Gómez-Espinosa, Catalina; Farinati, Ester; Aliotta, Salvador Predatory evidence in the high-latitude cold-water gastropod Buccinanops deformis (King, 1832) from the Holocene littoral sand ridges, Argentina, SW Atlantic Boletín de la Sociedad Geológica Mexicana, vol. 70, no. 2, 2018, May-August, pp. 293-305 Sociedad Geológica Mexicana, A.C. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18268/BSGM2018v70n2a2 Available in: https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=94362562003 How to cite Complete issue Scientific Information System Redalyc More information about this article Network of Scientific Journals from Latin America and the Caribbean, Spain and Journal's webpage in redalyc.org Portugal Project academic non-profit, developed under the open access initiative Boletín de la Sociedad Geológica Mexicana / 2018 / 293 Predatory evidence in the high-latitude cold-water gastropod Buccinanops deformis (King, 1832) from the Holocene littoral sand ridges, Argentina, SW Atlantic Catalina Gómez-Espinosa, Ester Farinati, Salvador Aliotta ABSTRACT Catalina Gómez-Espinosa ABSTRACT RESUMEN [email protected] Universidad Autónoma de Guerrero, Escuela Superior de Ciencias de la Tierra, Ex Haci- In this study investigates the preda- En este estudio se investiga la actividad enda San Juan Bautista S/N, Taxco el Viejo, tory activity on a Holocene gastropod depredadora sobre una especie de gasterópodo Guerrero, México, 40323. from the Argentinean Malacological del Holoceno de la Provincia Malacológica Ester Farinati Province. Buccinanops deformis (King, Argentina. Buccinanops deformis (King, Universidad Nacional del Sur, Departamento 1832), endemic in the southern 1832) es una especie que habita en aguas de Geología, San Juan 670, Bahía Blanca, Bue- hemisphere, is a typical taxon of frías en latitudes altas, endémica del nos Aires, Argentina, 8000. cold-waters and high latitudes. We Hemisferio Sur. Este estudio está basado en Salvador Aliotta observed direct evidence of duroph- la evidencia directa de la durofagia tanto en Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía, Camino agy as lethal and sublethal damage. daño letal como subletal. El daño subletal a La Carrindanga km 7.5, Bahía Blanca, Bue- Sublethal damage was studied using fue inferido utilizando la evidencia de los nos Aires, Argentina, 8000. traces of repaired shell as an indica- exoesqueletos reparadas como un proxy tor of activity by durophagous pred- de este tipo de actividad. Se emplearon ators. Three parameters were used tres parámetros para la evaluación de la to evaluate durophagous predation: depredación durófaga: la frecuencia de depre- frequency of predation, repair scar dación, la frecuencia de cicatrices reparadas frequency and prey effectiveness. A y la efectividad de la presa. Se identificó la predatory-prey interaction was iden- interacción depredador-presa entre el cangrejo tified between Danielethus crenulatus Danielethus crenulatus (A. Milne-Edwards, (A. Milne-Edwards, 1879) and B. 1879) y B. deformis durante el Holoceno en deformis during the Holocene on the las costas litorales argentinas. El bajo grado Argentinean littoral coast. The low de la frecuencia de depredación (0.16) y value observed for shell repair fre- reparación del exoesqueleto (0.06) y el valor quency (0.06), the low frequency of medio de la efectividad de la presa (0.37) predation (0.16), and the intermedi- se interpretaron como resultado de una baja ate value for prey effectiveness (0.37) pero efectiva actividad depredadora. may be interpreted because of a low but effective predatory activity. Palabras clave: Depredación, reparación de exoesqueletos, Keywords: Predation, shell latitudes altas, gasterópodos, repair, high latitude, gastropod, Holoceno, SO del Atlántico. Holocene, SW Atlantic. BOL. SOC. GEOL. MEX. 2018 VOL. 70 NO. 2 P. 293 ‒ 305 http://dx.doi.org/10.18268/BSGM2018v70n2a2 Manuscript received: January 25, 2017. Corrected manuscript received: May 24, 2017. Manuscript accepted: August 9, 2017. Durophagy in a high-latitude Holocene gastropod from Argentina 294 / Boletín de la Sociedad Geológica Mexicana / 2018 1. Introduction damaged shell. Recently this has emerged as a frequently used indicator for crushing-predation The importance of predation as the main (Stafford and Leighton, 2011). Scars derived mechanism for metazoan evolution has been from repair processes are visible as disruptions of INTRODUCTION / LOCATION intensively studied since the 1980s (Skovsted et al., growth lines, visible as disruptions of surface orna- 2007) based on its role as a putative factor that ments, or as color patterns on the shell (Stafford et contributes to natural selection (Vermeij, 1987; al., 2015). Kelley and Hansen, 1993; Jablonski and Sepkoski, Most publications regarding fossil records are 1996). Nevertheless, predation is one of the most focused on sublethal damage as they report gas- difficult interspecific interactions to be estimated tropods’ shell breakage (Vermeij, 1987; Alexander in the fossil record (Stuart and Greenstone, 1990), and Dietl, 2003; Skovsted et al., 2007; Lindström mainly because predators and prey are rarely and Peel, 2010). A comprehensive review regard- found together (Molinaro et al., 2013). It is only ing fossil records of shell-breaking predation in possible to find direct evidence of predation on gastropods was published by Alexander and Dietl prey organisms possessing a biomineralized skele- (2003). ton (Vermeij, 1987), whereas most predators either The damage inflicted on the external shell lip can leave no trace or destroy the hard parts of their be used to identify durophagous predation (Oji et prey (Chattopadhyay and Baumiller, 2010). al., 2003), although the lip may also be damaged Predation on organisms protected by a hard skele- by other carnivorous gastropods and crabs. This ton is defined as durophagy (Aronson, 2001). type of evidence has been formally described by It is considered that there are four molluscivory Stafford et al. (2015) on an ichnofossil assigned to methods: the ingestion of the whole organism, the Caedichnus ichnogenera. insertion and extraction, boring followed by Shell breakage caused by crabs is markedly differ- pre-ingestive breakage, and crushing (Harper and ent regarding severity, size, and position, and the Skelton, 1993). The first two methods are unlikely breakage is distinguished by a peculiar pattern to leave preservable evidence (Alexander and (Ogaya, 2004; Dietl et al., 2010). Dietl, 2003). The last two methods leave traces Information describing repair frequencies is scarce that may be considered as direct evidence and is for both fossil and recent mollusks located at Boreal commonly used as an indicator of durophagous to arctic latitudes (Alexander and Dietl, 2003). predation (Kowalewsky, 2002). Moreover, except for one report (Chattopadhyay In the fossil records, evidence shows that predation and Baumiller, 2010), prey effectiveness has not on gastropods was mainly by drilling, and there been estimated for fossilized repaired gastropods. are several reports in the literature about that topic (see Kelley and Hansen, 2003). The shell breakage caused by durophagy has been 2. Location overlooked as it has been considered a misinter- pretation because of (1) the effects of the shell’s Samples were collected at the Holocene sand shell differential resistance towards taphonomic forces ridges located at the inner region of the Bahia either before or after burial (Zuschin and Stanton, Blanca estuary, south of Buenos Aires Province, 2001; Zuschin et al., 2003; Mapes et al., 2010), Argentina. Location: 38°45ʹ S, 62°20ʹ W (Figure (2) the destruction of shells by non-predatory 1). action, and (3) shell scattering by currents or other The coastal region of this estuary is formed by mechanical agents (Vermeij et al., 1989). a dense net of tidal channels separated by low Unsuccessful predation or sublethal damage is altitude islands and sand shoals. Several geolo interpreted based on the degree of repair of the gical studies indicate that the Holocene marine Durophagy in a high-latitude Holocene gastropod from Argentina Boletín de la Sociedad Geológica Mexicana / 2018 / 295 LOCATION / TARGET TAXA Figure 1 Map of the Bahia Blanca Estuary highlighting the zone characterized by sand-shell ridges and the location of the study area. transgressive–regressive cycle has imprinted its The Buccinanops genus (d’Orbigny, 1841) particular features on the Bahía Blanca area (Caenogastropoda, Nassariidae) has a geological (Aliotta et al., 2013). record comprising the Upper Miocene to the The highest Holocene transgression produced a Recent (Aguirre, 1993). series of sand-shell ridges observed at heights rang- This species was selected because it is an abundant ing 8 – 10 m above mean sea level. These ridges and conspicuous mollusk found in the sand-shell are mainly found at the estuary’s inner region and ridges of the Bahia Blanca estuary, and because they are arranged in a narrow sub-parallel strip it is a typical taxon of high latitudes endemic to along the coastline (Farinati and Aliotta, 1987). the SW Atlantic Ocean, spanning from Espiritu Sand-shell ridges are composed of size sands Santo, Brazil to Golfo San Matías, Patagonia, which range from medium to fine having a high Argentina (Nuñez and Narosky, 1997). percentage of whole shells and their fragments B. deformis possesses a smooth, wide, and thick shell, (approximately 30%) as well as a smaller propor- with a low and depressed spire