Metamorphose rates for sea slugs exposed to different water samples
A dataset with 36 observations on the following 2 variables.
Time |
Minutes after tide come in |
Percent |
Proportion of 15 sea slug larvae that metamorphose |
Sea slugs, common on the coast of southern California, live on vaucherian seaweed. The larvae from these sea slugs need to locate this type of seaweed to survive. A study was done to try to determine whether chemicals that leach out of the seaweed attract the larvae. Seawater was collected over a patch of this kind of seaweed at 5-minute intervals as the tide was coming in and, presumably, mixing with the chemicals. The idea was that as more seawater came in, the concentration of the chemicals was reduced. Each sample of water was divided into 6 parts. Fifteen larvae were then introduced to this seawater to see what percentage metamorphosed (an indication that the desired chemical was detected).
A paper based on these data: Krug, P.J. and R.K. Zimmer. 2000b. Larval settlement: chemical markers for tracing production, transport, and distribution of a waterborne cue. Marine Ecology Progress Series, vol. 207: 283-296.