On the Importance of Carrion to Reproduction in an Omnivorous Estuarine Neogastropod, Ilyanassa obsoleta (Say)

The hypothesis that carrion provides a source of nutrition important to reproduction in the omnivorous neogastropod, Ilyanassa obsoleta (Say), was tested by collecting snails during winter, prior to reproductive season, and allowing them to feed ad libitum on three replicated diets (with starvation control) in the laboratory: vegetable, meat, and a mixture of meat and vegetable. The results indicate that, while a mixed diet is necessary for growth, meat may be the most important dietary constituent in terms of sexual condition and reproductive output of I. obsoleta. It is suggested that the chemotactic response to meat may be strongest for both sexes during the reproductive season, and may be responsible for some of the marked spatial heterogeneity in natural populations.