Some preliminary observations on the homing of the West Indian chiton Acanthopleura granulate

The West Indian chiton Acanthopleura granulata (Gmelin,1791) exhibits a marked homing behavior, especially onlower energy shorelines. Individuals generally remain stationaryat their homes during the daylight hours and foragefor their surficial and endolithic algal food during thenight, returning to their homes by morning (Mook, 1983).The purpose of this preliminary study is to investigatesome of the possible mechanisms that may be involved inthe homing behavior of A. granulata.