Steve,
I've seen that a couple times with the crabs, especially with Moon Snails.
Did Hülsken et al. place one species as a bay dweller and the other as offshore?
Les
-----Original Message-----
From: Conchologists List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Steve Rosenthal
Sent: Monday, March 02, 2015 8:49 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [CONCH-L] Double Occupancy moon snails
Over the past few days I witnessed a very large number of egg collars from moon snails (Neverita spp.) on Quintana Beach in Brazoria County, N. Texas. On the first couple of days there were a lot of live individuals uncovered at low tide, and at high tide in rough surf there were a lot of fresh dead moribund specimens, of which I collected a fair number. On cleaning these out, I noticed I had two crabbed specimens, however after the crabs came out, so did a dead moon snail, still with the operculum. I guess once the animal dies and begins to rot or recede into the shell, there is enough space for the crab to move in.
Also of note, using a sample of about 50 shells encountered , the ratio of duplicata to delessertiana was about 1.3 to 1, which I think is a more even mix of the two species than I recall being cited in the literature for the open ocean (beach) habitat? i.e.
Hülsken T., M. Clemmensen & M. Hollmann (2006) Neverita delessertiana (Récluz in Chenu, 1843): a naticid species (Gastropoda: Caenogastropoda) distinct from Neverita duplicata (Say, 1822) based on molecular data, morphological characters, and geographical distribution. Zootaxa 1257: 1–25., available online at http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2006f/zt01257p025.pdf
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