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MEPS 587:1-15 (2018)  -  DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12464

FEATURE ARTICLE
Vertical distribution and diurnal migration of atlantid heteropods

Deborah Wall-Palmer1,7,*, Brett Metcalfe2,3, Melanie J. Leng4,5, Hilary J. Sloane5, Gerald Ganssen2, P. N. Vinayachandran6, Christopher W. Smart1

1School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Plymouth, Plymouth PL4 8AA, UK
2Earth and Climate Cluster, Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
3Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement, LSCE/IPSL, CEA-CNRS-UVSQ, Université Paris-Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
4School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington Campus, Loughborough LE12 5RD, UK
5NERC Isotope Geosciences Facilities, British Geological Survey, Keyworth NG12 5GG, UK
6Centre for Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560 012, India
7Present address: Naturalis Biodiversity Center, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands
*Corresponding author:

ABSTRACT: Understanding the vertical distribution and migratory behaviour of shelled holoplanktonic gastropods is essential in determining the environmental conditions to which they are exposed. This is increasingly important in understanding the effects of ocean acidification and climate change. Here we investigated the vertical distribution of atlantid heteropods by collating data from publications and collections and using the oxygen isotope (δ18O) composition of single aragonitic shells. Data from publications and collections show 2 patterns of migration behaviour: small species that reside in shallow water at all times, and larger species that make diurnal migrations from the surface at night to deep waters during the daytime. The δ18O data show that all species analysed (n = 16) calcify their shells close to the deep chlorophyll maximum. This was within the upper 110 m of the ocean for 15 species, and down to 146 m for a single species. These findings confirm that many atlantid species are exposed to large environmental variations over a diurnal cycle and may already be well adapted to face ocean changes. However, all species analysed rely on aragonite supersaturated waters in the upper <150 m of the ocean to produce their shells, a region that is projected to undergo the earliest and greatest changes in response to increased anthropogenic CO2.


KEY WORDS: Atlantidae · Gastropod · Vertical distribution · Diurnal migration · Oxygen isotopes · Calcification · Ocean acidification


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Cite this article as: Wall-Palmer D, Metcalfe B, Leng MJ, Sloane HJ, Ganssen G, Vinayachandran PN, Smart CW (2018) Vertical distribution and diurnal migration of atlantid heteropods. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 587:1-15. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12464

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