Hostname: page-component-7bb8b95d7b-495rp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-09-13T17:38:05.367Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The response of the limpet, Patella vulgata L., to waters of different salinities

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

D. C. Arnold
Affiliation:
Gatty Marine Laboratory, St Andrews

Extract

Patella vulgata gives a positive response to splashing with sea water or water of high salinity, and a negative response to fresh water or water of low salinity. The intensity of the positive response broadly corresponds with the salinity of the water used. There is a greater response to splash and a greater tolerance to reduced salinity in limpets from high-tide than in those from low-tide regions. A positive response is given to NaCl solutions of concentrations approximately equivalent to sea water, while a supra-normal response is given to concentrations somewhat above that of sea water. The perception of salinity is by receptors in the cephalic tentacles and mantle fringe.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1957

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Hulbert, G. C. E. B. & Yonge, C. M., 1937. A possible function of the osphradium in the Gastropoda. Nature, Lond., Vol. 139, pp. 840–1.CrossRefGoogle Scholar