Abandoned Seabird Eggs as a Calcium Source for Terrestrial Gastropods

Authors

  • Alexander L. Bond Atlantic Cooperative Wildlife Ecology Research Network (ACWERN) and Department of Biology, University of New Brunswick, P.O. Box 4400, Fredericton, New Brunswick E3B 5A3
  • Antony W. Diamond Atlantic Cooperative Wildlife Ecology Research Network (ACWERN) and Department of Biology, University of New Brunswick, P.O. Box 4400, Fredericton, New Brunswick E3B 5A3

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22621/cfn.v121i4.521

Keywords:

Arctic Tern, Sterna paradisaea, White-lip Gardensnail, Cepaea hortensis, Glossy Pillar, Cionella lumbria, calcium, eggshell, New Brunswick

Abstract

Birds’ use of terrestrial gastropods to supplement calcium for egg formation has been well documented, but the reverse, gastropods using avian eggshells as a calcium source, has not been recorded previously. We collected Arctic Tern, Sterna paradisaea, eggs, abandoned in July 2006, that were found to have many terrestrial gastropods on the surface, and it appeared as though the outer eggshell layers were removed. Using scanning electron microscopy, we compared “grazed” and “ungrazed” sections of the same shell with eggshells collected in 2005 that were not attended by snails. It appears as though the snails removed the outer eggshell layers, presumably to supplement their own shell growth.

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Issue

Vol. 121 No. 4 (2007)

Section

Notes

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