Effects of early-life diet on Nucella canaliculata drilling phenotype quantified in the laboratory after rearing on different prey treatments

The growing field of eco-evolutionary dynamics has highlighted the importance of reciprocal feedbacks between evolutionary and ecological processes. We tested whether selection could act on existing within-population variation in a predatory trait in the marine dogwhelk, Nucella canaliculata. We reared newly hatched dogwhelks on four prey treatments (thin-shelled Mytilus trossulus, two treatments of M. californianus from two populations known to differ in adult shell thickness, and acorn barnacles). To quantify dogwhelk phenotype, we tested the surviving adult dogwhelks on their ability to drill mid-sized (5-7cm long) M. californianus. We found evidence that dogwhelk phenotype varied among the early-life diet treatments.

生态进化动力学（eco-evolutionary dynamics）这一蓬勃发展的研究领域，已然揭示了进化过程与生态过程之间双向反馈的重要意义。本研究以海洋荔枝螺（marine dogwhelk）*Nucella canaliculata*为实验对象，检验自然选择是否可作用于该物种种群内已存在的捕食性状变异。我们将刚孵化的荔枝螺置于四种猎物处理组中饲养：分别为薄壳海湾贻贝（Mytilus trossulus）、采自两个成体壳厚存在显著差异种群的加州贻贝（M. californianus）的两组处理，以及藤壶（acorn barnacles）。为量化荔枝螺的表型特征，我们测试了存活至成体阶段的个体捕食体长5-7cm的中等体型加州贻贝（M. californianus）的能力，以此测定其钻孔捕食表现。研究结果显示，荔枝螺的表型在不同幼年期日粮处理组间存在显著差异。