Abstract
This study examines the effect of coastal winds on the mangrove perwinkle snail (Littorina angulifera) in a peninsula near the Shell Island Lab of Rookery Bay Estuarine Reserve. Snails were sampled from 40 different red mangrove trees (Rhizopora mangle), 20 from the windward side of the peninsula and 20 from the leeward shoreline of the peninsula. In addition, the orientation of the snails was recorded as being either toward or away from a directional wind. A 2 by 2 repeated measures ANOVA was run in SPSS (side of island (windward and leeward) and orientation to wind (towards or away as the repeated measure) to determine the significance between the orientation of the snails and the side of the peninsula on which they were found and their distribution and relative abundance on mangrove trees. The analysis revealed a main effect of the orientation of the snails (p= 0.001) in their distibution as well as significant interactive effect between the orientation of the snails and the side of the peninsula (p= 0.001). We determine that wind may play an important role in the distibution of the mangrove periwinkle snail, but further analysis will be needed to determine the actual causative role amongst many possible relevant factors.