Preliminary observations of corallivorous Drupella cornus feeding aggregations at Rottnest Island, Western Australia
Veera M. Haslam
A B and Mike van Keulen A
A Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Ecosystems, Harry Butler Institute, Murdoch University, Murdoch, WA 6150, Australia.
B Corresponding author. Email: 33523207@student.murdoch.edu.au
Pacific Conservation Biology 26(1) 98-99 https://doi.org/10.1071/PC18086
Submitted: 11 November 2018 Accepted: 11 February 2019 Published: 15 March 2019
Abstract
Predation by the corallivorous gastropod Drupella cornus is well studied in the tropical and subtropical waters of the Indo-Pacific, including Ningaloo Reef and the Houtman Abrolhos Islands, Western Australia. In 1983, Drupella was not found in the Pocillopora colonies of Rottnest Island (Black and Prince 1983), and there has only been one record of D. cornus on Rottnest Island until today. We show the first feeding aggregations of D. cornus on these higher-latitude reefs of Rottnest Island, and highlight the importance of these findings.
Additional keywords: corallivory, temperate coral reef
References
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