Organisms have different morphological, physiological, or behavioral strategies for dealing with environmental stressors. Gastropods inhabiting coastal environments, such as mangroves, distribute themselves to match their phenotype with prevalent abiotic conditions (e.g., temperature and humidity). As adults and juveniles differ in basic requirements, differences may be expected regarding their distribution. Juveniles of Littorinid gastropods on rocky shores are more susceptible to hydric stress and stay closer than adults to water sources. In Mangroves, it is unclear if gastropod abundance and movement patterns in different ontogenetic phases are distinctively structured, to match such requirements. We hypothesized that in Littoraria angulifera, body length would increase and abundance would decrease from the base of the mangrove's tree towards the top of the tree (vertical gradient) and from shore edge towards the continent in mangrove forests (horizontal gradient). Furthermore, the movement towards the waterline should be stronger in juveniles, while adults were not expected to display such a pattern. We evaluated the size and abundance of L. angulifera along the vertical and horizontal gradients through mensurative and manipulative experiments. Our results show that the abundance of adults and juveniles of L. angulifera decreased with increasing distance from the water's edge of the mangrove. In the horizontal gradient, the spatial distribution of juveniles was narrower than adults while the movement was toward the mangrove edge for both adults and juveniles. In the vertical gradient, adults and juveniles presented similar movement patterns. Future studies should assess the effect of tides in food availability, predation, and desiccation as a drivers of L. angulifera distribution and movement.

生物具有不同的形态，生理或行为策略来应对环境压力。栖息在沿海环境（如红树林）中的腹足类动物会自行分布，使其表型与普遍的非生物条件（例如温度和湿度）相匹配。由于成年人和少年的基本要求不同，因此预期其分布也有所不同。岩石海岸上的Littorinid腹足类动物的青少年比成年人更容易受到水压的影响，并且离水源较近。在红树林中，尚不清楚不同个体发育阶段的腹足类动物的丰度和运动模式是否具有明显的结构，以适应此类需求。我们假设在立陶宛，从红树林的树的根部到树的顶部（垂直梯度），从岸边到红树林的大陆（水平梯度），大陆长度将增加而丰度将减少。此外，在青少年中，向水线的运动应该更强，而成年人则不会表现出这种模式。我们通过测量性和操纵性实验评估了沿垂直和水平梯度的安氏乳杆菌的大小和丰度。我们的结果表明，L。angulifera的成年和少年数量丰富随着距红树林水边缘距离的增加而减少。在水平梯度中，当成年人和少年都朝着红树林边缘移动时，少年的空间分布比成年的要窄。在垂直梯度上，成年人和青少年表现出相似的运动方式。未来的研究应评估潮汐对食物来源，捕食和干燥的影响，以作为安圭拉乳杆菌分布和运动的驱动力。