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Science 23 September 1977:
Vol. 197. no. 4310, pp. 1293 - 1295
DOI: 10.1126/science.197.4310.1293
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Articles

Function of Shell Sculpture in Marine Gastropods: Hydrodynamic Destabilization in Ceratostoma foliatum

ALLISON R. PALMER 1

1 Department of Zoology, University of Washington, Seattle 98195

The gastropod Ceratostoma foliatum (Gmelin) possesses three bladelike varices on the body whorl of the shell. The precise positioning and relative width of these varices destabilize the animal as it falls through the water, substantially increasing the chances that it will land upright (aperture down). For a gastropod pulled off rocks and dropped by predatory fish, such a mechanism could considerably reduce its probability of being eaten.

Submitted on March 8, 1977
Revised on May 3, 1977


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
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