Ecology

Gastropods are easily found on rock shores, as they are an important and representative component of this substrate (Miloslavich,P., et al, 2013). The speciesstudied at the research were usually encountered under rocks and inside small puddles during the low tide at the reef crest. The family Trochidae is composedof herbivorous species and T. stellatus has been reported as preferential algivore (Joseph, M. N., 1978). It was observed also that the majority of the individuals collected had several algae and other organisms encrusted over theirs shells, what made even the identification of the species harder (Figure 3). 


​Figure 3. Individual attached to an algae (upper left corner); individual over rock at the reef crest (bottom left corner); Individual with several algaes encrusted on its shell (upper right corner) and the reef crest at Heron Island (bottom right corner).