Growth of the intertidal snail, Monodonta labio (Gastropoda, Prosobranchia) on the Pacific coast of central Japan

Growth of the trochid snail Monodonta labio was investigated by individual marking on a Pacific coast rocky shore of Honshu, central Japan. Growth rat es of small sized M. labio were greater during summer to fall than during w inter. However, the growth of large sized M. labio did not fluctuate all ye ar round. Estimated growth curves were gained from growth data of monthly r ecaptured M labio. From the estimated growth curves it was showed that newl y recruited M labio (1.6 mm in shell height) grew 10.3 mm at 1 yr after rec ruitment, 16.7 mm after 2 yrs, 20.2 mm after 3 yrs, 22.6 mm after 4 yrs, 24 .4 mm after 5 yrs and reached the maximum size at the study shore of 25.0 m m after 5 yrs 2 mo.