| Abstract: | Abstract. The feeding and resting patterns of Littorina angulifera, the southern periwinkle, were observed in mangrove habitats of Belize (Central America). The snails feed predominantly on the surface of prop roots of Rhizophora mangle in a narrow zone at and above the mean high water mark. This area contains large numbers of hyphae and chlamydospores of an unidentified marine fungus (Deuteromycetes) and filaments of a chlorophyte (Chlorochytrium sp.). Both organisms are ingested by snails whose digestive tracts and fecal pellets contain ground-up cork cells, tricho-sclereids, tracheids, calcium oxalate crystals, fungal hyphae and chlamydospores, as well as undigested cyanobacteria. Most fungal particles pass through the gut unchanged. During dry periods, L. angulifera is in a dormant state, usually attached with dried mucus to leaves high in the tree, causing necrotic, crescent-shaped marks. The leaf tissue under the area of shell attachment becomes meristematic, separating dead tissues from healthy mesophyll. The snails detach during rainfall and move downward to the feeding sites on the prop roots. |
