Preference of adult top shell (Batillus cornutus) on specific marine algae in the coastal waters of Jeju Island

ABSTRACT This paper examines relation between growth of adult top shell and their selectivity over different marine algae. For the study the top shell density and the algal species in different depth were surveyed by SCUBA. To test selectivity over different types of algae, five algal species including Ecklonia cava , Undaria pinnatifida , Ulva spp, Gelidium amansii and Sargassum spp were provided to top shells in indoor water tank condition. In the field survey, the wet weight of Ecklonia cava was significantly (r = 0.612, p SL 4.5 cm) tended to select Ecklonia cava and Undaria pinnatifida , which are common and abundant algal in the subtidal waters in Jeju Island. Our field survey and the indoor experiment suggest that E. cava and U. pinnatifida could be food preferred by adult top shell in its habitat. Key words : Batillus cornutus