Relationship between environmental characteristics and migration of Japanese turban snail Turbo cornutus on the coast of Niigata, Japan

Abstract

: To understand the relationship between the environmental characteristics and migration habits of the Japanese turban snail Turbo cornutus , we performed tagging and release of turban snails on four fishery-grounds on the coast of Niigata, Japan. We released a total of 4,657 tagged individuals and were able to recapture 168 individuals. The analysis of the recapture data using LASSO–COX proportional hazard model showed that an increase in areas of macroalgal-bed and rocky-bot-tom suppressed the dispersal of the turban snails from the fishery-grounds. The partial regression coefficient of the area of rocky-bottom was larger than that of the macroalgal-bed, suggesting that an increase in the area of rocky-bottom was more effective in suppressing the dispersal rate of the turban snails from fishery-grounds compared with that of the macroalgal-bed. Conversely, an increase in the area of sandy-bottom on the fishery-ground caused an increase in the dispersal rate of the turban snails, even if other environmental characteristics were fixed. The results provide useful information for seed release and habitat construction for the Japanese turban snails.