Intraspecific Scaling Relationships Between Crawling Speed and Body Size in a Gastropod

Abstract

Across various modes of locomotion, body size and speed are often correlated both between and within species. Among the gastropods, however, current data are minimal for interspecific and intraspecific scaling relationships. In this study, we tested the relationships between various measurements of body size and crawling speed in the terrestrial snail Cornu aspersum. We also investigated the relationships between crawling speed, muscular wave frequency, and muscular wavelength, because--while these relationships within individuals are well studied--the relationships among individuals are unknown. We recorded snails crawling on both a horizontal and a vertical surface. We found that when they crawled on a horizontal surface, foot length was positively correlated with pedal wavelength and crawling speed, but was not correlated with wave frequency. In comparison, when they crawled on a vertical surface, foot length was positively correlated with wavelength, negatively correlated with wave frequency, and not correlated with crawling speed. Body mass had no correlation with crawling speed when snails were crawling on a horizontal surface, but was negatively correlated with speed when snails crawled on a vertical surface.