caa a22 4500 605509433 CHVBK 20210128100641.0 cr unu---uuuuu 210128e20150601xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s10452-015-9515-6 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s10452-015-9515-6 Inter-individual variation partially explains patterns of orientation on steeply sloped substrata in a keystone grazer, the limpet Cellana tramoserica [Elektronische Daten] [Clarissa Fraser, Ross Coleman, Frank Seebacher] Our knowledge of why animals orientate in specific directions is less than for any other type of distribution; this is especially true for intertidal organisms. Understanding the behaviour of intertidal organisms on vertical/near-vertical surfaces is important as the relative abundance of these surfaces will increase with elevated sea levels. Orientation by marine organisms is a fundamental behaviour, but most studies have addressed environmental influences on orientation. It is equally true that habitat properties, intraspecific interactions and intrinsic individual variation will be important. Populations of the limpet Cellana tramoserica exhibit a downwards bias in orientation on steeply sloped substrata (>60°), but orientation varies among individuals. We tested whether differences in orientation are explained by inter-individual behavioural variations, in a population examined for 4months in each of 2years. Significantly, more limpets than expected consistently orientated downwards ("downwards facing limpets”) and additionally the majority of limpets were consistently found on steeply sloped substrata. The number of "downwards facing limpets” we found was not sufficiently large enough to completely explain population-level patterns of orientation, as only 8% of limpets consistently faced downwards compared to 39% of a population facing downwards at any given point in time. Also, individuals that consistently occupied steeply sloped substrata were no more likely to orientate downwards than others. We suggest that intrinsic inter-individual variation among limpets influences orientation. The temporal variation in individual orientation observed emphasises the requirement for adequate temporal replication in experiments before proposing causal explanations. Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht, 2015 Australia nationallicence Distribution nationallicence Intertidal nationallicence Rocky shore nationallicence Vertical habitat nationallicence Fraser Clarissa Coastal and Marine Ecosystems, School of Biological Sciences, Marine Ecology Laboratories (A11), The University of Sydney, 2006, Sydney, NSW, Australia aut Coleman Ross Coastal and Marine Ecosystems, School of Biological Sciences, Marine Ecology Laboratories (A11), The University of Sydney, 2006, Sydney, NSW, Australia aut Seebacher Frank School of Biological Sciences, Heydon-Laurence Building (A08), The University of Sydney, 2006, Sydney, NSW, Australia aut Aquatic Ecology Springer Netherlands 49/2(2015-06-01), 189-197 1386-2588 49:2<189 2015 49 10452 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10452-015-9515-6 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10452-015-9515-6 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Fraser Clarissa Coastal and Marine Ecosystems, School of Biological Sciences, Marine Ecology Laboratories (A11), The University of Sydney, 2006, Sydney, NSW, Australia aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Coleman Ross Coastal and Marine Ecosystems, School of Biological Sciences, Marine Ecology Laboratories (A11), The University of Sydney, 2006, Sydney, NSW, Australia aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Seebacher Frank School of Biological Sciences, Heydon-Laurence Building (A08), The University of Sydney, 2006, Sydney, NSW, Australia aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Aquatic Ecology Springer Netherlands 49/2(2015-06-01), 189-197 1386-2588 49:2<189 2015 49 10452