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Bore Hole Patterns in Jersey Shore Bivalves

by Christopher Kinzel

Research:

In the first article titled “Boreholes on Three Bivalve Species Found on the Sand Beach at

Sagot Cape, Baengnyeongdo, Korea,” researchers collected 200 shells with boreholes off a small

island’s coast. Boreholes in bivalve shells are traces generated by predatory gastropods (Kong et

al., 2017). Because bivalves have a hard exterior, gastropods would often drill with their radula

(serrated teeth) to reach the fleshy and edible part of their prey. As a consequence, they leave

evidence of their predation in the form of boreholes (Kong et al., 2017). The team examined,

sorted, and recorded these bivalves to reach several conclusions. One conclusion was, “In the

shells of Mactra, a high concentration (96%) of drill holes on the umbo is also likely to be

associated with moon snail’s easiness of prey handling and the position of bivalve prey’s body

mass.” Overall, the team concluded that gastropods intentionally drill in specific locations of the

bivalves that have the most body mass.

In the second article titled “Patterns of Gastropod Mollusk Predation on Bivalve

Mollusks Along the Upper Texas Gulf Coast,” researchers also collected shells across three sites

on the Gulf Coast, however not all of these shells had boreholes in them. In their data, they

compared the percentage with boreholes, diameter, size of shells, and quantity of holes. In their

data relating to the diameter of the borehole, they concluded that borehole diameters correlated

significantly with shell thickness, suggesting that mollusks with larger drills selected larger prey

(Randolph & Maccarone, 2018). To sum it up, their research explored several variables regarding

boreholes and their findings reveal gastropods’ predatory behaviors.

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In the final article titled, “Shape Differences Among Boreholes Drilled by Three Species

of Gastropods,” researchers studied and compared the morphology of the boreholes left by

different species of gastropods. From the boreholes they studied, they noticed that there was a

strong correlation between the inner and outer borehole diameters of all three gastropods (Grey

et al., 2005). With their tests, they’ve concluded that there are many differences between the

morphology of boreholes left by these gastropods. Their most important reason for

experimenting was to calculate the “prey effectiveness” of these boreholes; the geometric data

they’ve collected can be used as an indicator for this statistic (Grey et al., 2005).

Hypothesis:

Because most of the flesh is located near the umbo of bivalves, the majority of boreholes

will be located around that area.

Materials:

● Bivalve Shells
● Bucket
● Trays and other sorting tools
● Mollusc Identification Guide

Methods:

1. Go to Ship Bottom Beach and collect bivalves

2. Bring them back to the lab
3. Begin sorting by shells with/without boreholes
4. Sort shells by species while identifying them with a guide
5. Sort by location of the borehole using 9 zones
6. Create a table illustrating data
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Results:

Figure 1

Zones of Surf Clam Shell

Note. To distinguish the location of boreholes, nine zones were used. This picture shows the

general locations of the zones. The surf clam was used in this image for simplicity.

Table 1

Borehole Locations in Jersey Shore Bivalves

Chestnut Surf Slipper Jingle Total # in

Astarte Clam Oyster Shell Shell Tellin Cockle Scallop Coquina Zone

Zone 1 9 5 0 0 0 1 12 2 0 29
Zone 2 (Umbo) 11 507 0 1 61 8 14 3 11 616
Zone 3 29 8 0 0 0 2 3 0 0 42
Zone 4 42 11 0 0 0 18 3 0 5 79
Zone 5 34 39 7 1 14 25 5 7 18 150
Zone 6 60 14 0 0 0 6 2 0 1 83
Zone 7 5 3 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 12
Zone 8 6 2 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 11
Zone 9 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8
Total # of Shells 204 589 7 2 75 64 39 15 35 1030
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Analysis:

As seen in Table 1, the majority of shells were classified in Zone 2, also where the umbo

of the shell is located. Most of those shells were surf clams since they were the most common

shell found on the beach. The table also shows that the middle zones are hotspots for drilling,

however, it’s less efficient for gastropods to drill there because they can’t feast on the entire

organism. The outer zones (Zones 7-9) were uncommon due to minimal bivalve flesh.

Conclusion:

To conclude, this experiment supported the hypothesis that the majority of boreholes

were near the umbo of the shell. Furthermore, the experiment demonstrated the behavioral

aspects of gastropods, with their fastidious decisions on where to bore their radulas. It’s common

for gastropods to be selective with where they drill (Kong et al., 2017). The umbo is their ideal

location for drilling because the main body mass of the bivalve is located beneath the umbo so

manipulating the bivalve right-side-up while drilling would be easier for the gastropod to feast

on. The radula would be able to tear the entire body mass effortlessly when the bivalve is in that

position. Predatory adaptations combined with experience allow gastropods to easily and

effectively consume their prey, illustrating how the hypothesis connects to bivalve predation in

that specific region.

Works Cited:

Grey, M., Boulding, E., & Brookfield, M. (2005). SHAPE DIFFERENCES AMONG

BOREHOLES DRILLED BY THREE SPECIES OF NATICID GASTROPODS. Journal of

Molluscan Studies, 3, 253–256. https://doi.org/10.1093/mollus/eyi035

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Kong, D.-Y., Lee, M.-H., Park, C. H., & Lee, S.-J. (2017). Boreholes on three bivalve species

found on the sand beach at Sagot Cape, Baengnyeongdo, Korea. Journal of Asia-Pacific

Biodiversity, 4, 441–447. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.japb.2017.09.004

Randolph, S. J., & Maccarone, A. D. (2018). PATTERNS OF GASTROPOD MOLLUSK

PREDATION ON BIVALVE MOLLUSKS ALONG THE UPPER TEXAS GULF COAST. The

Texas Journal of Science, 1. https://doi.org/10.32011/txjsci_70_1_article5