Abstract
IN NATURE, vol. xxxi. p. 200, Prof. Ainsworth Davis describes some observations he had made on the habits of the limpet. Marked individuals were found to return from their excursions, extending to a distance of some three feet, and to settle down on the spot which is their permanent home. By excision of the tentacles in two individuals Prof. Davis was led to conclude that it is not by these organs that the limpet finds its way back to its own particular scar. “The sense of smell then suggested itself, and it occurred to me,” writes Prof. Davis, “that one reason why limpets kept on their scars when covered by the water was to prevent the scent being washed off. With a view to determine this, the space between a wandering limpet and its scar and the scar was carefully washed again and again with sea-water. In spite of this, the limpet in question readily found its way back again.”
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MORGAN, C. The Homing of Limpets. Nature 51, 127 (1894). https://doi.org/10.1038/051127a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/051127a0
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