<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" ><tr><td valign="top" style="font: inherit;"><H1 id=article-title-1>Published online before print <SPAN class=slug-ahead-of-print-date>September 2, 2009</SPAN>, doi: <SPAN class=slug-doi title=10.1073/pnas.0908655106>10.1073/pnas.0908655106 </SPAN></H1>
<H1>Adaptive shell color plasticity during the early ontogeny of an intertidal keystone snail</H1>
<DIV class=contributors>
<OL id=contrib-group-1 class=contributor-list jQuery1252195290390="65">
<LI id=contrib-1><SPAN class=name><A class=name-search href="http://www.pnas.org/search?author1=Patricio+H.++Manr%C3%ADquez&sortspec=date&submit=Submit">Patricio H. Manríquez</A></SPAN><A id=xref-aff-1-1 class=xref-aff href="http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2009/09/01/0908655106.abstract?etoc=#aff-1" jQuery1252195290390="67"><SUP>a</SUP></A><SPAN class=xref-sep>,</SPAN><A id=xref-corresp-1-1 class=xref-corresp href="http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2009/09/01/0908655106.abstract?etoc=#corresp-1"><SUP>1</SUP></A>, </LI>
<LI id=contrib-2><SPAN class=name><A class=name-search href="http://www.pnas.org/search?author1=Nelson+A.++Lagos&sortspec=date&submit=Submit">Nelson A. Lagos</A></SPAN><A id=xref-aff-2-1 class=xref-aff href="http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2009/09/01/0908655106.abstract?etoc=#aff-2" jQuery1252195290390="68"><SUP>b</SUP></A>, </LI>
<LI id=contrib-3><SPAN class=name><A class=name-search href="http://www.pnas.org/search?author1=Mar%C3%ADa+Elisa++Jara&sortspec=date&submit=Submit">María Elisa Jara</A></SPAN><A id=xref-aff-1-2 class=xref-aff href="http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2009/09/01/0908655106.abstract?etoc=#aff-1" jQuery1252195290390="69"><SUP>a</SUP></A> and </LI>
<LI id=contrib-4><SPAN class=name><A class=name-search href="http://www.pnas.org/search?author1=Juan+Carlos++Castilla&sortspec=date&submit=Submit">Juan Carlos Castilla</A></SPAN><A id=xref-aff-3-1 class=xref-aff href="http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2009/09/01/0908655106.abstract?etoc=#aff-3" jQuery1252195290390="70"><SUP>c</SUP></A><SPAN class=xref-sep>,</SPAN><A id=xref-corresp-1-2 class=xref-corresp href="http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2009/09/01/0908655106.abstract?etoc=#corresp-1"><SUP>1</SUP></A></LI></OL>
<P class=affiliation-list-reveal><A class=view-more href="http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2009/09/01/0908655106.abstract?etoc=#" jQuery1252195290390="66">-</A> Author Affiliations</DIV>
<OL class="affiliation-list showaffil" jQuery1252195290390="64">
<LI class=aff><A id=aff-1 name=aff-1></A>
<ADDRESS><SUP>a</SUP>Instituto de Biología Marina “Dr. Jürgen Winter,” Laboratorio Costero de Recursos Acuáticos de Calfuco, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Austral de Chile, Casilla 567, Valdivia, Chile; </ADDRESS></LI>
<LI class=aff><A id=aff-2 name=aff-2></A>
<ADDRESS><SUP>b</SUP>Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Ambientales, Departamento de Ciencias Básicas, Universidad Santo Tomás, Ejercito 146, Santiago, Chile; and </ADDRESS></LI>
<LI class=aff><A id=aff-3 name=aff-3></A>
<ADDRESS><SUP>c</SUP>Departamento de Ecología and Center for Advanced Studies in Ecology and Biodiversity, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Casilla 114-D, Santiago, Chile </ADDRESS></LI></OL>
<OL class=fn-track>
<LI id=fn-2 class=fn-con>
<P id=p-2>Contributed by Juan Carlos Castilla, August 5, 2009 (sent for review March 31, 2008)</DIV></LI></OL></DIV>
<DIV id=abstract-1 class="section abstract">
<H2>Abstract</H2>
<P id=p-3>We report a mechanism of crypsis present during the vulnerable early post-metamorphic ontogeny (≤20 mm peristomal length) of the muricid snail <EM>Concholepas concholepas,</EM> a rocky shore keystone predator characteristic of the southeastern Pacific coast. In the field, we found a significant occurrence (>95%) of specimens bearing patterns of shell coloration (dark or light colored) that matched the background coloration provided by patches of <EM>Concholepas</EM>' most abundant prey (mussels or barnacles respectively). The variation in shell color was positively associated with the color of the most common prey (<EM>r</EM> = 0.99). In laboratory experiments, shell coloration of <EM>C. concholepas</EM> depended on the prey-substrate used to induce metamorphosis and for the post-metamorphic rearing. The snail shell color matched the color of the prey offered during rearing. Laboratory manipulation experiments, switching the prey during
rearing, showed a corresponding change in snail shell color along the outermost shell edge. As individuals grew and became increasingly indistinguishable from the surrounding background, cryptic individuals had higher survival (71%) than the non cryptic ones (4%) when they were reared in the presence of the predatory crab <EM>Acanthocyclus hassleri</EM>. These results suggest that the evolution of shell color plasticity during the early ontogeny of <EM>C. concholepas,</EM> depends on the color of the more abundant of the consumed prey available in the natural habitat where settlement has taken place; this in turn has important consequences for their fitness and survivorship in the presence of visual predators. </DIV></DIV>
<UL class=kwd-group>
<LI class=kwd><SPAN><A class=kwd-search href="http://www.pnas.org/search?fulltext=cripticity&sortspec=date&submit=Submit&andorexactfulltext=phrase">cripticity</A></SPAN></LI>
<LI class=kwd><SPAN><A class=kwd-search href="http://www.pnas.org/search?fulltext=mollusk&sortspec=date&submit=Submit&andorexactfulltext=phrase">mollusk</A></SPAN></LI>
<LI class=kwd><SPAN><A class=kwd-search href="http://www.pnas.org/search?fulltext=survivorship&sortspec=date&submit=Submit&andorexactfulltext=phrase">survivorship</A></SPAN></LI></UL>
<DIV id=fn-group-1 class="section fn-group">
<H2>Footnotes</H2>
<UL>
<LI id=corresp-1 class=corresp><SPAN class=corresp-label></SPAN><SUP>1</SUP>To whom correspondence may be addressed. E-mail: <A href="mailto:pmanriquez@uach.cl">pmanriquez@uach.cl</A> or <A href="mailto:jcastilla@bio.puc.cl">jcastilla@bio.puc.cl</A></LI></UL></DIV></td></tr></table><br>