Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-4hhp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-02T14:28:55.340Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Observations on the swimming and buoyancy of Cymbulia peroni (Gastropoda: Thecosomata) made from a submersible

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

G.R. Harbison
G.R. Harbison
Affiliation:
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The swimming and buoyancy of the gelatinous pteropod, Cymbulia peroni, was observed and recorded on videotape from a submersible in the western Mediterranean. When not swimming Cymbulia peroni hangs neutrally buoyant, with its parapodia outstretched and motionless. Two modes of swimming were observed, slow swimming and rapid or ‘escape’ swimming. Slow swimming predominated, at speeds between 2 and 11 cm s−1. Most slow swimming was directed vertically up or down. Slow swimming is probably used for vertical migration and the avoidance of turbulence. Turbulence frequently occurs both at epipelagic and mesopelagic depths in the Mediterranean. Escape swimming was more rapid, and speeds up to 40 cm s−1 were measured. Differences between slow and escape swimming appear to be quantitative rather than qualitative, in contrast to other cymbuliids. Cymbulia peroni is an active and vigorous swimmer, clearly capable of vertical migration, and probably attains speeds greater than the highest measured in this study. Its behaviour in the field differs dramatically from its behaviour in the laboratory.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 72 , Issue 2 , May 1992 , pp. 435 - 446
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1992

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Davenport, J. & Bebbington, A., 1990. Observations on the swimming and buoyancy of some thecosomatous pteropod gastropods. Journal of Molluscan Studies, 56, 487–497.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Denton, E.J. & Shaw, T.I., 1962. The buoyancy of gelatinous marine animals. Journal of Physiology, 161, 14–15P.Google Scholar
Gilmer, R.W., 1972. Free-floating mucus webs: a novel feeding adaptation for the open ocean. Science, New York, 176, 1239–1240.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gilmer, R.W., 1974. Some aspects of feeding in thecosomatous pteropod molluscs. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 15, 127–144.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gilmer, R.W. & Harbison, G.R., 1986. Morphology and field behavior of pteropod molluscs: feeding methods in the families Cavoliniidae, Limacinidae and Peraclididae (Gastropoda: Thecosomata). Marine Biology, 91, 47–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gilmer, R.W. & Lalli, C.M., 1990. Bipolar variation in Clione, a gymnosomatous pteropod. American Malacological Bulletin, 8, 67–75.Google Scholar
Haagensen, D.A., ed., 1976. Caribbean zooplankton. Part II, Thecosomata, pp. 551–712. Washington DC: Office of Naval Research, Department of the Navy.Google Scholar
Harbison, G.R. & Campenot, R.B., 1979. Effects of temperature on the swimming of salps (Tunicata, Thaliacea): implications for vertical migration. Limnology and Oceanography, 24, 1081–1091.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lalli, C.M. & Gilmer, R.W., 1989. Pelagic snails. The biology of holoplanktonic gastropod mollusks. Stanford: Stanford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lanoix, F., 1974. Projet Alboran. Étude hydrologique et dynamique de la mer d'Alboran, d'après les travaux effectués dans le cadre du projet Alboran (Juillet et Août 1962). Rapport Technique OTAN no. 66, Sous-Comité Oceanographique de l'Organisation du Traité de l'Atlantique Nord, 39 pp. Paris: SIRCO.Google Scholar
Mayer, A.G., 1912. Ctenophores of the Atlantic coast of North America. Washington DC: Carnegie Institution.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MEDOC Group, 1970. Observation of formation of deep water in the Mediterranean Sea, 1969. Nature, London, 227, 1037–1040.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morton, J.E. 1964. Locomotion. In Physiology of Mollusca, vol. 1 (ed. K.M., Wilbur and C.M., Yonge), pp. 383–423. New York: Academic Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rampal, J., 1967. Répartition quantitative et bathymétrique des ptéropodes thécosomes récoltés en Méditerranée occidentale au nord du 40e parallèle. Remarques morphologiques sur certaines espèces. Revue des Travaux de l'Institut des Pêches Maritimes, 31, 403–416.Google Scholar
Satterlie, R.A., Goslow, G.E. Jr & Reyes, A., 1990. Two types of striated muscle suggest two-geared swimming in the pteropod mollusc Clione limacina. Journal of Experimental Zoology, 255, 131–140.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Der Spoel, S., 1976. Pseudothecosomata, Gymnosomata and Heteropoda (Gastropoda). Utrecht: Bohn, Scheltema and Holkema.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wesson, J.C. & Gregg, M.C., 1988. Dissipation measurements in the Gibraltar Experiment. In Seminario sobre la oceanografia fisica del Estrecho de Gibraltar (ed. J.L., Almazan et al.), pp. 401–411. Madrid: SECEG.Google Scholar
Wormelle, R.L., 1962. A survey of the standing crop of plankton of the Florida Current. VI. A study of the distribution of the pteropods of the Florida Current. Bulletin of Marine Science of the Gulf and Caribbean, 12, 95–136.Google Scholar
Youngbluth, M.J., 1984. Manned submersibles and sophisticated instrumentation: tools for oceanographic research. In Proceedings of SUBTECH 1983 Symposium, pp. 335–344. London: Society for Underwater Technology.Google Scholar