|
THE
WINTER POLYPLACOPHORA TAXOCOENE OF SHALLOW BOTTOMS OF OGNINA AND
ACITREZZA (BAY OF CATANIA, SICILY), WITH SOME NOTES ON EARLY
DEVELOPMENT OF Lepidochitona
monterosatoi
KAAS & VAN BELLE, 1981
|
Danilo
Scuderi, Giovanni Russo and Bruno Dell'Angelo |
The
biology and ecology of some shallow water species of
Mediterranean Poliplacophora is treated in this paper. Monthly
samples, from January to May 1999, were carried out in two
localities of Catania (East Sicily): the sheltered port of
Ognina and the more exposed inlet of Acitrezza. Seven species of
Poliplacophora were collected and their quantitative
relationships analysed. Two species, Chiton
phaseolinus Monterosato, 1879 and Lepidochitona
monterosatoi Kaas & Van Belle, 1981, were particularly
abundant and interesting, because of their rarity and the lack
of knowledge on their biology and ecology. Of the latter species,
the first developmental stages were for the first time described,
after aquarium breeding. |
