Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-swr86 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-22T08:22:15.410Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

First record of Cassis tuberosa spawning in the wild (north-east Brazil)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2015

Thelma Lúcia Pereira Dias  and
Ellori Laíse Silva Mota
Thelma Lúcia Pereira Dias*
Affiliation:
Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Conservação, Universidade Estadual da Paraíba, Laboratório de Biologia Marinha (LBMar), Departamento de Biologia, Campus I, Rua Baraúnas, 351, Bairro Universitário, CEP 58429-500, Campina Grande, PB, Brazil
Ellori Laíse Silva Mota
Affiliation:
Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Conservação, Universidade Estadual da Paraíba, Laboratório de Biologia Marinha (LBMar), Departamento de Biologia, Campus I, Rua Baraúnas, 351, Bairro Universitário, CEP 58429-500, Campina Grande, PB, Brazil
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: T.L.P. Dias, Universidade Estadual da Paraíba, Departamento de Biologia, Campus I, Rua Baraúnas, 351, Bairro Universitário, CEP 58429-500, Campina Grande, PB, Brazil email: thelmalpdias@gmail.com
Get access

Abstract

Spawning of Cassis tuberosa is recorded and described for the first time, based on observations carried out in the Tamandaré reefs, north-eastern Brazil. The specimen was laying over gravel substrate surrounded by macroalgae at a depth of 2 m. Cassis tuberosa uses an algal frond of the genus Padina to lay its eggs. The oothecae consists of approximately 200 vasiform capsules, orange in colour. The spawn of Cassis tuberosa is quite similar to that produced by its congener, Cassis madagascariensis; however, Cassis tuberosa spawns in the soft substrate provided by algal fronds while Cassis madagascariensis utilizes coarse, carbonate sand. Considering that Cassis tuberosa is the target of multiple commercial purposes, to expand our knowledge about its biology could contribute towards protecting the essential habitat of reproductively active individuals.

Keywords

egg layingalgal frondsking helmetTamandaré reefs
Type
Research Article
Information
Marine Biodiversity Records , Volume 8 , 2015 , e130
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2015 

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

REFERENCES

Alves, R.R.N. and Dias, T.L.P. (2010) Usos de invertebrados na medicina popular no Brasil e suas implicações para conservação. Tropical Conservation Science 3, 159–174.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
D'Asaro, C.N. (1963) The spawn of the emperor helmet shell, Cassis madagascariensis Lamarck, from South Florida. Bulletin of Marine Science 19, 905–910.Google Scholar
Dias, T.L.P., Léo-Neto, N.A. and Alves, R.R.N. (2011) Molluscs in the marine curio and souvenir trade in NE Brazil: species composition and implications for their conservation and management. Biodiversity and Conservation 20, 2393–2405.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Glazer, R.A. and Kidney, J.A. (2004) Habitat associations of adult queen conch (Strombus gigas L.) in an unfished Florida Keys back reef: applications to essential fish habitat. Bulletin of Marine Science 75, 205–224.Google Scholar
Hughes, R.N. and Hughes, H.P.I. (1981) Morphological and behavioural aspects of feeding in the Cassidae (Tonnacea, Mesogastropoda). Malacologia 20, 385–402.Google Scholar
Lindsay, W.G. Jr and Gerace, D.T. (1994) Description of egg cases and egg masses of the helmet Cassis magagascarensis. In Kass L.B. (ed.)Proceedings of the 5th Symposium on the Natural History of the Bahamas. San Salvador, Bahamas: Bahamian Field Station, pp. 57–59.Google Scholar
Mumby, P.J., Harborne, A.R., Williams, J., Kappel, C.V., Brumbaugh, D.R., Micheli, F., Holmes, K.E., Dahlgren, C.P., Paris, C.B. and Blackwell, P.G. (2007) Trophic cascade facilitates coral recruitment in a marine reserve. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104, 8362–8367.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rios, E.C. (2009) Compendium of Brazilian sea shells. Rio Grande: FURG, 668 pp.Google Scholar
Rolán, E. (2005) Malacological fauna From the Cape Verde Archipelago. Part 1, Polyplacophora and Gastropoda. Hackenheim: ConchBooks, 455 pp.Google Scholar