Food Deprivation in the Muricid Drill Ocinebrina edwardsi (Mollusca: Prosobranchia): Histomorphological and Behaviour Research

Abstract. After a starvation period the predation rate in specimens of Ocinebrina edwardsi is less than in animals which feed normally. The closer the prey predator contact during the starvation period, the higher the level of predation when the snails are allowed to resume feeding. The reduction in predation after a long or short fast is obviously the result of changes in the structure and function of the ABO. In the secreting cells of normally fed animals the following enzymatic activities can be distinguished: acid and alkaline phosphatases, carbonic anhydrase and ATPase. Carbonic anhydrase and acid phosphatase activities are not present in starved individuals. Only after the animals have resumed feeding for 10 days does the ABO completely recover its enzymatic functions.