Gastropod shell repair tracks predator abundance

Predator-prey interactions can shape biological communities and drive evolutionary change. The assessment of predation rates in modern and ancient ecosystems presents many challenges. We examined the utility of one common predation metric, shell repair frequency, as a proxy for crushing predation on marine gastropod populations. Our six localities near Bamfield, British Columbia, represented two contrasting predation regimes: three high-wave-energy (exposed) environments have low predation rates, while three low-wave-energy (protected) environments exhibit high predation rates. We measured the occurrence of repair scars for local populations of the gastropod Chlorostoma funebrale, and recorded multiple independent variables (shell measurements, water velocity, predatory crab abundance) at each locality. Fisher's exact test established that the repair frequencies observed in the protected localities were significantly greater than those of the exposed environments. Factors important in predicting the likelihood of an individual having a repair scar were examined using binomial logistic regression. A model containing the main effects of crab abundance, shell height, shell thickness and water velocity provided the best fit in predicting the presence of repair scars, with crab abundance having the largest contribution. The strong relationship between the presence of repair scars and predator abundance indicates that repair frequency is a valid tool for assessing predation intensity in gastropod populations.