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Morphometric analysis of the shell of the intertidal gastropod Echinolittorina lineolata (d'Orbigny, 1840) at different latitudes along the Brazilian coast

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 July 2020

Alisson Sousa Matos Open the ORCID record for Alisson Sousa Matos [Opens in a new window] ,
Helena Matthews-Cascon  and
Oscar R. Chaparro
Alisson Sousa Matos*
Affiliation:
Laboratório de Invertebrados Marinhos do Ceará, Departamento de Biologia, Centro de Ciências, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Campus do Pici, Bloco 909, Pici, Fortaleza, 60455760, Brasil Instituto de Ciências do Mar, Universidade Federal do Ceará, 3207, Meireles, Fortaleza, 60165081, Brasil
Helena Matthews-Cascon
Affiliation:
Laboratório de Invertebrados Marinhos do Ceará, Departamento de Biologia, Centro de Ciências, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Campus do Pici, Bloco 909, Pici, Fortaleza, 60455760, Brasil Instituto de Ciências do Mar, Universidade Federal do Ceará, 3207, Meireles, Fortaleza, 60165081, Brasil
Oscar R. Chaparro
Affiliation:
Instituto de Ciencias Marinas y Limnológicas, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile
*
Author for correspondence: Alisson Sousa Matos, E-mail: alimatos1@gmail.com
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Abstract

Morphometric analysis is one of the tools widely used to quantify, analyse and describe the variations in the biological forms of animals. In this study, we examined the linear morphometric variations of the shell of the small intertidal gastropod Echinolittorina lineolata and compared the patterns to identify variations among populations and between sexes. The individuals were collected from latitudes 3°S, 14°S, 21°S and 23°S along the Brazilian coast. Traditional morphometric analysis was performed, and the morphometric variables of the shells, namely, the length and width of the shell and the length and width of the shell opening were obtained. The observed size pattern was influenced by latitude, as well as by local spatial responses to factors such as the substrate changing the morphometric variables of the snail. Of the morphometric variables, the length and the width of the shell were the most representative variables that influenced the gastropods in the different latitudes. These variables were also different in males and females, with females having larger shell lengths and widths across all latitudes.

Keywords

Littorinidaemolluscsshell shapesnail

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Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 100 , Issue 5 , August 2020 , pp. 725 - 731
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2020

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