The diet of coral-reef Mitridae (Gastropoda) from Guam; with a review of other species of the family

Abstract

The diets of 16 species of the gastropod family Mitridae from coral-reef habitats around the Pacific island of Guam were investigated by gut content analysis. All species examined were specialist feeders upon sipunculans, with considerable dietary overlap between coexisting species. A review of the diets of mitrids from other places, shows that a sipunculan diet is now known for a total of 26 species. The family is the most trophically specialized of the more speciose gastropod families.

Keywords :

• Gastropods
• Mitridae
• coral-reef
• diet