Use of space and costs/benefits of locomotion strategies in the abalone, Haliotis tuberculata.

This study investigates the use of space by the abalone Haliotis tuberculata in an artificial environment. First, we analyzed locomotion and the hiding behavior of 60 4-year old individual; then we described their feeding on algae provisioned either dispersed or concentrated. The results show that each individual, independently of its sex, adopts one of two locomotion strategies, behaving as either a “wanderer” (W) or a “sedentary” (S). Ws covered longer distances, occupied larger areas, and made more twisted trajectories than the latter. Ws and Ss also differed for their social behavior (the nearest neighbor distance was longer for Ws), the use of hides (Ws occupied the hides, particularly their inner spots, more often), food recruitment (Ws were quicker in responding to the food odor and foraged for longer time), and competitive ability (Ws more often displaced other individuals from food patches). The costs and benefits associated with these two strategies are finally discussed.