Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Spatial and temporal variability in the vertical distribution of gastropods on the rocky shores along the east coast of South Andaman Island, India

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Marine Biodiversity Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The present study was conducted for 2 years at six locations along the east coast of South Andaman to study the gastropod vertical zonation. The samples were collected at 3-month intervals between August 2013 and July 2015 (n = 574). The abundance, richness and diversity of high-, mid- and low-shore gastropods was examined to assess the zonal (shore height) variation at the spatial and temporal scales. The upper shore showed higher abundance and lower richness of gastropods in comparison to the mid and lower shores. While the mid shore showed higher diversity of gastropods, abundance was low compared to the upper shore. Differences in gastropod population were greater among locations relative to seasons. This study also reveals that there are significant differences in the gastropods distribution at different shore heights and this variation in the distribution of gastropod assemblage is greater than horizontal variation (i.e. at the spatial scale). Based on the gastropods abundance results, the rocky shore of Andaman may be divided as littorinid, neritid and muricid zones. The PERMANOVA test showed a significant difference of gastropod zonation at the spatial scale and not with time. Bray–Curtis similarity hierarchy and non-metric multi-dimensional scaling (nMDS) separated the study sites into three groups corresponding to shore heights and SIMPER (similarity percentage) analysis revealed the characterising taxa for each group.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abbott RT, Dance SP (1982) Compendium of seashells: a colour guide to more than 4,200 of world’s marine shells. NWS: Crawford House, Bathurst, p 410

  • Araújo R, Bárbara I, Sousa-Pinto I, Quintino V (2005) Spatial variability of intertidal rocky shore assemblages in the northwest coast of Portugal. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 64:658–670

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Archambault P, Bourget E (1996) Scales of coastal heterogeneity and benthic intertidal species richness, diversity and abundance. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 136:111–121

  • Ballesteros E, Romero J (1988) Zonation patterns in tideless environments (Northwestern Mediterranean): looking for discontinuities in species distributions. Investig Pesq 52:595–616

    Google Scholar 

  • Bandel K, Wedler E (1987) Hydroid, amphineuran and gastropod zonation in the littoral of the Caribbean Sea, Colombia. Senckenberg Marit 19:1–129

    Google Scholar 

  • Beck MW (1998) Comparison of the measurement and effects of habitat structure on gastropods in rocky intertidal and mangrove habitats. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 169:165–178

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beck MW (2000) Separating the elements of habitat structure: independent effects of habitat complexity and structural components on rocky intertidal gastropods. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 249:29–49

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Benedetti-Cecchi L (2001) Variability in abundance of algae and invertebrates at different spatial scales on rocky sea shores. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 215:79–92

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Benedetti-Cecchi L, Cinelli F (1997) Spatial distribution of algae and invertebrates in the rocky intertidal zone of the Strait of Magellan: are patterns general? Polar Biol 18:337–343. https://doi.org/10.1007/s003000050197

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Benedetti-Cecchi L, Bulleri F, Cinelli F (2000a) The interplay of physical and biological factors in maintaining mid-shore and low-shore assemblages on rocky coasts in the north-west Mediterranean. Oecologia 123:406–417

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Benedetti-Cecchi L, Acunto S, Bulleri F, Cinelli F (2000b) Population ecology of the barnacle Chthamalus stellatus in the northwest Mediterranean. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 198:157–170

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bertocci I, Maggi E, Vaselli S, Benedetti-Cecchi L (2010) Resistance of rocky shore assemblages of algae and invertebrates to changes in intensity and temporal variability of aerial exposure. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 400:75–86

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bird CE, Franklin EC, Smith CM, Toonen RJ (2013) Between tide and wave marks: a unifying model of physical zonation on littoral shores. PeerJ 1:e154. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.154

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Bourget E, DeGuise J, Daigle G (1994) Scales of substratum heterogeneity, structural complexity, and the early establishment of a marine epibenthic community. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 181:31–51

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bruno JF, Bertness MD (2001) Habitat modification and facilitation in benthic marine communities. In: Bertness MD, Gaines SD, Hay ME (eds) Marine community ecology. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, pp 201–218

    Google Scholar 

  • Cernohorsky WO (1967) Marine shells of the Pacific. Pacific Publications, Sydney, 248 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Cernohorsky WO (1972) Marine shells of the Pacific, vol 2. Pacific Publications, Sydney, 411 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapman MG (1994a) Small- and broad-scale patterns of distribution of the upper-shore littorinid Nodilittorina pyramidalis in New South Wales. Aust Ecol 19:83–95

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chapman MG (1994b) Small-scale patterns of distribution and size-structure of the intertidal littorinid Littorina unifasciata (Gastropoda: Littorinidae) in New South Wales. Aust J Mar Freshwat Res 45:635–642

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chapman MG, Underwood AJ (2008) Scales of variation of gastropod densities over multiple spatial scales: comparison of common and rare species. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 354:147–160

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chappuis E, Terradas M, Cefalì ME, Mariani S, Ballesteros E (2014) Vertical zonation is the main distribution pattern of littoral assemblages on rocky shores at a regional scale. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 147:113–122

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chelazzi G, Focardi S, Deneubourg JL (1988) Analysis of movement patterns and orientation mechanisms in intertidal chitons and gastropods. In: Chelazzi G, Vannini M (eds) Behavioral adaptation to intertidal life. Plenum Press, New York, pp 173–184

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Chow CY (2004) Foraging behaviour of Thais clavigera: the interplay of environmental variation and predator behaviour on sheltered rocky shores. MPhil thesis, University of Hong Kong

  • Clarke KR, Gorley RN (2006) PRIMER v6: user manual/tutorial. PRIMER-E, Plymouth, p 61

    Google Scholar 

  • Clarke KR, Warwick RM (1994) Changes in marine communities: an approach to statistical analyses and interpretation, Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Natural Environmental Research Council, Plymouth, p 859

  • Colman J (1933) The nature of the intertidal zonation of plants and animals. J Mar Biol Assoc UK 18:435–476. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0025315400043794

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Connell JH (1961a) Effects of competition, predation by Thais lapillus, and other factors on natural populations of the barnacle Balanus balanoides. Ecol Monogr 31:61–104. https://doi.org/10.2307/1950746

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Connell JH (1961b) The influence of interspecific competition and other factors on the distribution of the barnacle Chthamalus stellatus. Ecology 42:710–723. https://doi.org/10.2307/1933500

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cruz-Motta JJ, Miloslavich P, Palomo G, Iken K, Konar B, Pohle G, Trott T, Benedetti-Cecchi L, Herrera C, Hernández A, Sardi A, Bueno A, Castillo J, Klein E, Guerra-Castro E, Gobin J, Gómez DI, Riosmena-Rodríguez R, Mead A, Bigatti G, Knowlton A, Shirayama Y (2010) Patterns of spatial variation of assemblages associated with intertidal rocky shores: a global perspective. PLoS One 5:e14354

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Davidson IC, Anne CC, David KAB (2004) Quantifying spatial patterns of intertidal biodiversity: Is movement important? Mar Ecol 25(1):15–34

  • Dayton PK (1971) Competition, disturbance, and community organization: the provision and subsequent utilization of space in a rocky intertidal community. Ecol Monogr 41:351–389

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ellis DV (2003) Rocky shore intertidal zonation as a means of monitoring and assessing shoreline biodiversity recovery. Mar Pollut Bull 46:305–307

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • English S, Wilkinson CR, Baker VJ (1997) Survey manual for tropical marine resources. Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville

    Google Scholar 

  • Garrity SD, Levings SC (1984) Aggregation in a tropical neritid. Veliger 27:1–6

    Google Scholar 

  • Gohil B, Kundu R (2013) Ecological status of Mancinella bufo at Dwarka sea coast, Gujarat, India. J Environ Res Dev 7(4A):1591–1596

    Google Scholar 

  • Guichard F, Bourget E, Robert JL (2001) Scaling the influence of topographic heterogeneity on intertidal benthic communities: alternate trajectories mediated by hydrodynamics and shading. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 217:27–41

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hawkins SJ (1983) Interactions of Patella and macroalgae with settling Semibalanus balanoides (L.) J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 71:55–72

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson MP, Burrows MT, Hawkins SJ (1998) Individual based simulations of the direct and indirect effects of limpets on a rocky shore Fucus mosaic. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 169:179–188

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaehler S, Williams GA (1997) Do factors influencing recruitment ultimately determine the distribution and abundance of encrusting algae on seasonal tropical shores? Mar Ecol Prog Ser 156:87–96

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kastendiek J (1982) Competitor-mediated coexistence: interactions among three species of benthic macroalgae. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 62:201–210

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kelaher BP, Chapman MG, Underwood AJ (2001) Spatial patterns of diverse macrofaunal assemblages in coralline turf and their associations with environmental variables. J Mar Biol Assoc UK 81:917–930

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lam YK (1980) Some studies on the East Coast breakwater fauna, with particular reference to the vertical distribution of the periwinkles (Littorinidae) and their tolerances to oil pollution. Unpublished Honours thesis, University of Singapore, Singapore, 97 pp + 9 appendices

  • Lapointe L, Bourget E (1999) Influence of substratum heterogeneity scales and complexity on a temperate epibenthic marine community. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 189:159–170

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee S-L, Lim SSL (2009) Vertical zonation and heat tolerance of three littorinid gastropods on a rocky shore at Tanjung Chek Jawa, Singapore. Raffles Bull Zool 57(2):551–560

    Google Scholar 

  • Leonard GH (1999) Positive and negative effects of intertidal algal canopies on recruitment and survival of barnacles. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 178:241–249

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levin SA (1992) The problem of pattern and scale in ecology: the Robert H. MacArthur award lecture. Ecology 73:1943–1946

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levings SC, Garrity SD (1984) Grazing patterns in Siphonaria gigas (Mollusca, Pulmonata) on the rocky Pacific coast of Panama. Oecologia 64:152–159

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis JR (1961) The littoral zone on rocky shores: a biological or physical entity? Oikos 12(2):280–301. https://doi.org/10.2307/3564701

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis JR (1964) The ecology of rocky shores. English Universities Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Lubchenco J, Menge BA, Garrity SD, Lubchenco PJ, Ashkenas LR, Gaines SD, Emlet R, Lucas J, Strauss S (1984) Structure, persistence, and role of consumers in a tropical rocky intertidal community (Taboguilla Island, Bay of Panama). J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 78:23–73

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mangialajo L, Chiantore M, Susini ML, Meinesz A, Cattaneo-Vietti R, Thibaut T (2012) Zonation patterns and interspecific relationships of fucoids in microtidal environments. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 412:72–80

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Masi BP, Macedo IM, Zalmon IR (2009) Benthic community zonation in a breakwater on the north coast of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Braz Arch Biol Technol 52(3):637–646

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Menge BA (1976) Organization of the New England rocky intertidal community: role of predation, competition, and environmental heterogeneity. Ecol Monogr 46:355–393

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Menge BA (1978) Predation intensity in a rocky intertidal community: relation between predator foraging activity and environmental harshness. Oecologia 34:1–16. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00346237

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Menge BA (1991) Relative importance of recruitment and other causes of variation in rocky intertidal community structure. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 146:69–100

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Menge BA, Branch GM (2001) Rocky intertidal communities. In: Bertness MD, Gaines SD, Hay ME (eds) Marine community ecology. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, pp 221–251

    Google Scholar 

  • Menge BA, Farrell TM (1989) Community structure and interaction webs in shallow marine hard-bottom communities: tests of an environmental stress model. Adv Ecol Res 19:189–262

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Menge BA, Sutherland JP (1987) Community regulation: variation in disturbance, competition, and predation in relation to environmental stress and recruitment. Am Nat 130:730–757. https://doi.org/10.1086/284741

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Menge BA, Farrell TM, Oison AM, van Tamelen P, Turner T (1993) Algal recruitment and the maintenance of a plant mosaic in the low intertidal region on the Oregon coast. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 170:91–116

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Misra S, Kundu R (2005) Seasonal variations in population dynamics of key intertidal molluscs at two contrasting locations. Aquat Ecol 39(3):315–324

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moore PG, Seed R (1985) The ecology of rocky coasts. Hodder and Stoughton Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Olabarria C, Chapman MG (2001) Habitat-associated variability in survival and growth of three species of microgastropods. J Mar Biol Assoc UK 81:961–966

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paine RT (1974) Intertidal community structure: experimental studies on the relationship between a dominant competitor and its principal predator. Oecologia 15:93–120. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00345739

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pandey V, Ganesh T, Satyam K (2016) Habitat heterogeneity determines structural properties of intertidal gastropod assemblages in a pristine tropical Island ecosystem. Indian J Geo-Mar Sci (in press)

  • Schonbeck M, Norton TA (1978) Factors controlling the upper limits of fucoid algae on the shore. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 31:303–313

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schonbeck MW, Norton TA (1980) Factors controlling the lower limits of fucoid algae on the shore. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 43:131–150

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sibaja-Cordero JA, Cortés J (2008) Vertical zonation of rocky intertidal organisms in a seasonal upwelling area (Eastern tropical Pacific), Costa Rica. Int J Trop Biol 56(4):91–104

    Google Scholar 

  • Sousa WP (1979) Experimental investigations of disturbance and ecological succession in a rocky intertidal algal community. Ecol Monogr 49:227–254

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stephenson TA, Stephenson A (1949) The universal features of zonation between tide-marks on rocky coasts. J Ecol 37:289–305. https://doi.org/10.2307/2256610

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stephenson TA, Stephenson A (1972) Life between tidemarks on rocky shores. W.H. Freeman, San Francisco, 425 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Subba Rao NV (2003) Indian seashells. Part 1. Polyplacophora and Gastropoda. Records of the Zoological Survey of India. Occasional paper no. 192. Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata

  • Taylor JD (1990) Field observations of prey selection by the muricid gastropods Thais clavigera and Morula musiva feeding on the intertidal oyster Saccostrea cucullata. In: Morton B (ed) Proceedings of the second international marine biological workshop: the marine flora and fauna of Hong Kong and southern China. Hong Kong University Press, Hong Kong, pp 837–855

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor JD, Morton B (1996) The diets of predatory gastropods in the Cape d’Aguilar Marine Reserve, Hong Kong. Asian Mar Biol 13:141–166

    Google Scholar 

  • Thomas MLH (1994) Littoral communities and zonation on rocky shores in the Bay of Fundy, Canada: an area of high tidal range. Biol J Linn Soc 51:149–168

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson RC, Wilson BJ, Tobin ML, Hill AS, Hawkins SJ (1996) Biologically generated habitat provision and diversity of rocky shore organisms at a hierarchy of spatial scales. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 202:73–84

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trivedi JN, Vachhrajani KD (2015) Inter tidal distribution pattern of five common gastropods along Saurashtra coast, Gujarat, India. Electron J Environ Sci 8:1–7

    Google Scholar 

  • Underwood AJ (1975) Intertidal zonation of prosobranch gastropods: analysis of densities of four co-existing species. J Mar Biol Ecol 19:197–216

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Underwood AJ (1978) An experimental evaluation of competition between three species of intertidal prosobranch gastropods. Oecologia 33(2):185–202

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Underwood AJ (1981) Structure of a rocky intertidal community in New South Wales: patterns of vertical distribution and seasonal changes. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 51:57–85

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Underwood AJ (1984) Vertical and seasonal patterns in competition for microalgae between intertidal gastropod. Oecologia 64(2):211–222

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Underwood AJ (2000) Experimental ecology of rocky intertidal habitats: what are we learning? J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 250:51–76

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Underwood AJ, Chapman MG (1996) Scales of spatial patterns of distribution of intertidal invertebrates. Oecologia 107:212–224

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Underwood AJ, Jernakoff P (1981) Effects of interactions between algae and grazing gastropods on the structure of a low-shore intertidal algal community. Oecologia 48:221–233

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Underwood AJ, Chapman MG, Connell SD (2000) Observations in ecology: you can’t make progress on processes without understanding the patterns. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 250(1):97–115

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Valdivia N, Scrosati RA, Molis M, Knox AS (2011) Variation in community structure across vertical intertidal stress gradients: how does it compare with horizontal variation at different scales? PLoS One 6(8):e24062. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0024062

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Veiga P, Rubal M, Vieira R, Arenas F, Sousa-Pinto I (2013) Spatial variability in intertidal macroalgal assemblages on the North Portuguese coast: consistence between species and functional group approaches. Helgol Mar Res 67:191–201

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vermeij GJ (1973) Morphological patterns in high-intertidal gastropods: adaptive strategies and their limitations. Mar Biol 20:319–346

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams GA, Little C (2007) Foraging behaviour. In: Denny MW, Gaines S (eds) Encyclopedia of tidepools and rocky shores. University of California Press, Berkeley, pp 239–242

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams GA, Davies MS, Nagarkar S (2000) Primary succession on a seasonal tropical rocky shore: the relative roles of spatial heterogeneity and herbivory. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 203:81–94

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Willig MR, Kaufman DM, Stevens RD (2003) Latitudinal gradients of biodiversity: pattern, process, scale, and synthesis. Annu Rev Ecol Evol Syst 34:273–309. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.34.012103.144032

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yeung ACY, Williams GA (2012) Small-scale temporal and spatial variability in foraging behaviour of the mid-shore gastropod Nerita yoldii on seasonal, tropical, rocky shores. Aquat Biol 16:177–188

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zaneveld JS (1937) The littoral zonation of some Fucaceae in relation to desiccation. J Ecol 25:431–468

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We are thankful to Pondicherry University for providing the required facilities to carry out the research and for the fellowship to Vikas Pandey. We also thank Kunal Satyam for helping in the field and laboratory analysis.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ocean Studies and Marine Biology, Pondicherry University, Brookshabad Campus, Port Blair, 744112, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India

    Vikas Pandey & Ganesh Thiruchitrambalam

Authors
  1. Vikas Pandey
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ganesh Thiruchitrambalam
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ganesh Thiruchitrambalam.

Additional information

Communicated by D. M. Paterson

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Pandey, V., Thiruchitrambalam, G. Spatial and temporal variability in the vertical distribution of gastropods on the rocky shores along the east coast of South Andaman Island, India. Mar Biodiv 49, 633–645 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-017-0838-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-017-0838-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation