Algal structural defenses: form and calcification in resistance to tropical limpets

Experiments were conducted using docoglossan limpets and a large variety of tropical algae with varying degrees of calcification and different thallus forms. Neither calcification nor the the thallus forms that had been predicted to be structural defenses resulted in increased amounts of force to remove tissue. For these particular herbivores, and possibly others, these morphological features are not acting as simple structural defenses. -from Author