Abalones and sea urchins in an area inhabited by sea otters

✍ Scribed by L. F. Lowry; J. S. Pearse

• Book ID: 104751387
• Publisher: Springer-Verlag
• Year: 1973
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 733 KB
• Volume: 23
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0025-3162
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00389487

✦ Synopsis

Abalones (Haliotis spp.) and se~ urchins (Strongylocentrotus spp.) are part of the subtidal fauna in the kelp bed off Hopkins Marine Station, Pacific Grove, California, USA, a pro~eted marine reserve. Although these animMs haste been preyed upon by sea otters for over 10 years, their densities are substantial (Haliotis spp.: 0.2t [m2; Strongylocentrotus spp.: 0.22/m2), and two species, H. ru/escens (Swainson) and S. purpuratus (Stimpson), have wide size distributions indicating broad age ranges. Most of the adult abalones and sea urchins occur clustered deep in crevices, either as a direct result of sea-otter predation or because ample drift of algal food reduces foraging activities. Abalones tend to occur in larger crevices than sea urchins, and competition for suitable crevice space may exist among these large, invertebrate, algal-drift feeders.