Moon snail predation on clams is a common model system of predator–prey interactions. In this system, the predator bores through the shell of its prey, leaving a distinct and identifiable hole. Some paleoecological and behavioral research on moon snails suggests a trend in predation preference directed toward clams with small shells. Rarely, however, have studies tested relative drilling frequencies across species and size ranges in natural assemblages of clam communities. We examined the clam community composition at two beaches in South Carolina, USA, and we then tested moon snail predator preferences for (a) clam prey species and (b) whether their selection is related to prey shell size. We collected a total of 1,879 clam shells, identified each shell to species and recorded their anteroposterior length. The species composition of clams differed significantly between the two beaches; Anadara ovalis was dominant at both sites, but three of ten total species were only collected at one beach. Folly Beach had nearly a 60% higher the overall drilling frequency (34.6%) versus Edisto Beach (21.8%), and this may be linked to the differences in clam community compositions at the sites. For A. ovalis and Mulinia lateralis, shells with larger lengths have lower probabilities of being bored by a moon snail. Anadara brasiliana, which generally is a thinner‐shelled clam species, had the highest total drilling frequency (77.2%), and Noetia ponderosa, a thicker‐shelled clam, had a considerably lower drilling frequency (12.0%). We conclude that both community level factors (species composition) and population characteristics (shell size distributions) may influence the local drilling frequency by moon snails.

中文翻译：

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美国南卡罗来纳州的蛤类群落组成和猎物壳的大小影响月蜗牛（Gastropod：Naticidae）的钻探频率

蛤上的月蜗牛捕食是食肉动物与猎物相互作用的常见模型系统。在这个系统中，捕食者在其猎物的外壳上打孔，留下一个明显且可识别的孔。对月球蜗牛的一些古生态学和行为研究表明，捕食偏好倾向于小贝壳蛤。但是，很少有研究测试蛤类群落的自然组合中跨物种和大小范围的相对钻探频率。我们检查了美国南卡罗来纳州两个海滩上的蛤类群落组成，然后测试了（a）蛤类猎物和（b）它们的选择是否与猎物壳大小有关的月蜗牛掠食者偏好。我们总共收集了1,879个蛤壳，对每个壳进行了识别，并记录了它们的前后长度。椭圆形阿纳达拉在两个地点均占优势，但十个物种中的三个仅在一个海滩上被采集。Folly Beach的整体钻探频率（34.6％）比Edisto Beach（21.8％）高出近60％，这可能与该地点蛤lam群落组成的差异有关。对于卵圆线虫和侧枝穆里尼氏菌，较长的贝壳被月蜗牛打扰的可能性较低。巴西的Anadara，通常是一种较薄的蛤类，具有最高的总钻探频率（77.2％），而黄褐藻壳厚的蛤，钻孔频率低得多（12.0％）。我们得出的结论是，社区水平因素（物种组成）和种群特征（壳大小分布）都可能影响蜗牛的局部钻探频率。