ABSTRACT

The tiny epizoic limpet Lottia tenuisculpta lives on rocky surfaces and shells of the snails Omphalius nigerrimus and Reishia clavigera. The movement patterns of the limpet on host snails was observed during 24 h under controlled laboratory conditions. A specific behaviour, referred to as returning behaviour and reminiscent of homing behaviour, was observed in seven out of 20 individuals, and two out of 15 individuals on O. nigerrimus and R. clavigera, respectively. Rotation behaviour, in which limpets changed the direction of the body by one hundred and eighty degrees without changing the position on host snails, was also observed very frequently (17 out of 20 individuals on O. nigerrimus and 10 out of 15 and R. clavigera). This is the first report of such a behaviour. The potential role of this behaviour in creating home scars is discussed.

摘要

微小的偶数帽贝Lottia tenuisculpta生活在蜗牛Omphalius nigerrimus和Reishia clavigera的岩石表面和贝壳上。在受控实验室条件下，在24小时内观察到帽贝在寄主蜗牛上的运动方式。在O. nigerrimus和R. clavigera上分别观察到一种特殊的行为，称为回返行为，让人联想到归巢行为，每20个人中有7个人，每15个人中就有2个人。还经常观察到旋转行为，其中帽贝将身体的方向改变了一百八十度而没有改变宿主蜗牛的位置（在O. nigerrimus上，每20个人中就有17个人和15和R. clavigera中的10）。这是这种行为的首次报道。讨论了这种行为在制造家庭疤痕中的潜在作用。