Article: Mortality estimates of the intertidal purple snail Plicopurpura pansa in the Baja California Peninsula, Mexico.(Report)

ABSTRACT The intertidal purple snail Plicopurpura pansa was intensively exploited for "Tyrian Purple," leading to declining populations and prohibition by the Mexican government of commercial exploitation. A probable cause for the decline is the difficulty of the snails to reattach themselves fast enough before being washed away by the high impact waves during high tides after being removed from the rocks to obtain 'ink.' To assess this hypothesis, six experiments were conducted at two rocky beaches in the Baja California Peninsula. Total mortality rates were estimated by a recapture probability model. Mortality rates ranged from 6.34 [y.sup.-1] to 14.23 [y.sup.-1] at ...

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