Journal of the Marine Biological Association of India

Response of the mangrove mudsnail Terebralia palustris (Linnaeus) (Prosobranchia : Potamididae) to different substrata.

Volume 29 Issue 1&2

A. V. S. Rambabu, B. V. Prasad and M. Balaparameswara Rao

Abstract

The substratum is known to play an important role in the distribution of muddy shore molluscs. The mud snail Terebralia palustris occurs abundantly in the mangal at Nizampatnam (15" 54' N; 80° 43 'E) in the Krishna estuarine region on the east coast of South India. The response of this snail to different types of substrata viz. sand (100%), muddy sand (75% sand and 25% mud), intermediate (50 % sand and 50 % mud), sandy mud (25 % sand and 75 % mnd), mud (100 %) and plants, was studied. T. palustris was found to prefer the substrata with plants. The results are discussed and are compared with those of the other muddy shore forms.

Date : 31-12-1987