Polychromatic patterns of Littorina obtusata on Ascophyllum nodosum: Are snails hiding in intertidal seaweed?
Abstract – Shell color in the intertidal gastropod, Littorina obtusata, conforms to that of Ascophyllum nodosum, the dominant brown alga on which the snail is commonly found. The snail is also the general shape and size of the vesicles or gas bladders common on this fucoid alga. Collections of the snails and photographs of the alga were taken at wave-exposed and wave-protected sites on the central coast of Maine.
