CORRELATIONS BETWEEN WEATHER AND RECRUITMENT OF NASSARIUS-PAUPERATUS,AN INTERTIDAL GASTROPOD WITH A PLANKTOTROPHIC LARVAL STAGE

Recruitment of the intertidal gastropod Nassarius pauperatus (Lamarck) was estimated annually for more than a decade at three sites in South Australia. Recruitment varied temporally, but was relatively synchron ous amongst sites, even though these were at least 10 km apart. The de nsity of recruits at each site was negatively correlated with evaporat ion and also with several indices of temperature for February. We post ulate that either high temperatures or desiccation cause the death of recently settled individuals, which may be unable to avoid these extre mes by burrowing deeply into the substratum.