| We conducted a laboratory study to determine drillhole siteselectivity patterns in the predatory behavior of Notocochlis unifasciata (Lamarck, 1822), which is a common naticid gastropod on the eastern Pacific coast of Central America, preying on two infaunal venerid bivalves – the thin-shelled and weakly ornamented Leukoma grata (Say, 1831) and the thick-shelled and strongly ornamented Iliochione subrugosa (Wood, 1828). Spatial patterns of drillhole distribution indicate strong preferences for drilling the umbonal region and the ventral edge of the shell, with the proportion of edge- to wall-drilling attacks increasing in thicker, strongly ornamented prey that were larger than their predator’s own size. Drilling patterns from museum and beach... |
