THE BIOLOGY OF THE NORTHEASTERN PACIFIC TURRIDAE II. OENOPOTA

The habitat, diet, some reproductive and mortality factors forseveral shallow-water species of the boreal turrid genus Oenopotafrom the Puget Sound region were determined. All fed exclusivelyon tubicolous polychaetes. Oenopota fidicula was a dietary andhabitat generalise Oenopota elegans eats Schistocomus hiltoniand lives in areas of shell fragments. Oenopota excunata eatsTharyx multifilis and is a habitat generalist. Oenopota tabulataappears to be a dietary generalist, but lives only on or nearrocks. The widely-distributed species, O. levidensis, eats spionidpolychaetes, primarily Polydora species, or Owenia fusiformis,and is a habitat generalist. Feeding frequencies are low asare population densities; although O. levidensis sometimes exceeds15 animals m^–2. Crabs are major predators upon turridsin some areas, but mortality causes are generally obscure. Spawningwas observed in four species, but only O. elegans and O. levidensishad viable larvae. Development takes 13–15 weeks, 6–7weeks in a capsule and 6–7 weeks as planktonic veligers.There are no nurse eggs. Settling was not observed. ^*Present mailing address: Bamfield Marine Station Bamfield,B.C. VOR 1B0 CANADA (Received 30 May 1982;