Local distribution and habitat

Turbo udulatus is commonly found on the reef crest of Heron Island Southside. At low spring tides, the ocean level falls below the top of the reef leaving a large the reef crest exposed. The reef crest is constantly exposed to wave action. The southern margin of Heron island reef provides a wide variety of habitats and microhabitats along its length. This habitats include areas of large dead coral boulders (1-2metre in height) along with many other small fragments of coral boulders (0.2 to 0.5 metre in height). These coral boulders rocky provide a substrate for many marine gastropods including Turbo undulatus (Mather and Bennett, 1993). 

Turbo undulatus lives from intertidal zones to deep water, but most are found exposed or semi-sheltered rocky shore habitats (Kuiter, 2003; Hickman & McLean, 1990). They are also common amongst algae, and in crevices during mid tide and low tide levels (Beeschey, 2012) 

Experiment: Habitat Selection

Turbo undulatus are often found on coral rubble on the reef crest. To test their preference for a particular habitat, a tank was set up. It was filled with three different types of sediments, coral rubble, deep water sediments and shallow water sediments. Four Turbo undulatus were placed on a plastic petridish at the center of the tank and left over night. The next day, it was observed that all 4 Turbo undulatus were on the coral rubble particularly in holes and under shade.

Picture showing start of experiment


Picture showing result of experiment, Turbo undulatus all colonise the coral rubble

Discussion: Turbo loves to hide in holes and their preferred habitat choice is coral rubble. Hiding in holes is for protection and coral rubble is a hard surface substrate that enables better attachment. This is needed especially for Turbo undulatus as they are located on the reef crest where wave energy is constant and sometimes strong.