DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

Growth Responses of the Filter-Feeding Clam Gafrarium tumidum to Water Flow: A Field Manipulation Experiment

  • Cheung, S.G. (Department of Biology and Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong) ;
  • Shin, Paul K.S. (Department of Biology and Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong)
  • Published : 2007.05.31

Abstract

The effect of water flow on the growth of Gafrarium tumidum was studied in the field using open cages constructed with stainless steel net and perspex in which holes were drilled. Cages with different flows (25, 50 and 75% of the control) were made by varying the area of perspex being drilled. Reduction in flow rate was directly proportional to the undrilled area, and the mean flow rate of the different treatment groups varied from 3.12 cm/s for the 25% exposure to 12.48 cm/s for the control cages. At the end of the 3-month experiment, no significant differences in sediment characteristics were found among the treatments. Growth in shell length, shell weight and tissue dry weight was, however, positively correlated with flow rate. Percentage increases ranged from $3.0{\sim}8.3%$ for shell length, $9.9{\sim}23.1%$ for shell weight and $17.2{\sim}53.3%$ for tissue dry weight. Condition index of the clam was not significantly different among the treatments. Seston depletion effect could reduce growth in G. tumidum only when water flow was reduced to 25% of the control. G. tumidum also exhibited different responses in shell and tissue growth at low flow rates, in which shell growth continued to decrease as flow rate decreased whereas tissue growth was relatively independent of low flows at 25 and 50% of the control. It was suggested that when seston flux was reduced at slow flows, it would be a better strategy for G. tumidum to channel energy for gonad development instead of shell growth during the reproductive stage.

Keywords

References

  1. Allen SE. 1989. Chemical Analysis of Ecological Materials. 2nd ed. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford
  2. Bayne BL, Newell RC. 1983. Physiological energetics of marine molluscs. In: The Mollusca, Vol 4 (Saleuddin ASM, Wilbur KM, eds). Academic Press, London, pp 409-515
  3. Bock MJ, Miller DC. 1994. Seston availability and daily growth in Mercenaria mercenaria on an intertidal sandflat. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 114: 117-127 https://doi.org/10.3354/meps114117
  4. Buchanan JB. 1984. Sediment analysis. In: Methods for the Study of Marine Benthos, 2nd ed (Holme NA, McIntyre AD, eds). Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, pp 41-65
  5. Carter RN, Wildish DJ, MacDonald BA. 2001. The effects of velocity and seston concentration on the exhalant siphon area, valve gape and filtration rate of the mussel Mytilus edulis. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 261: 91-111
  6. Eckman JE, Peterson CH, Cahalan JA. 1989. Effects of flow speed, turbulence, and orientation on growth of juvenile bay scallops Argopecten irradians concentricus (Say). J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 132: 123-140 https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-0981(89)90219-0
  7. Emerson CW. 1990. Influence of sediment disturbance and water flow on the growth of the soft-shell clam, Mya arenaria L. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 47: 1655-1663 https://doi.org/10.1139/f90-189
  8. Frechette M, Grant J. 1991. An in situ estimation of the effect of wind driven resuspension on the growth of the mussel Mytilus edulis L. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 148: 201-213 https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-0981(91)90082-8
  9. Gremare A, Amouroux J-M, Charles F, Medernach L, Jordana E, Nozais C, Vetion G, Colomines J-C. 1998. Temporal changes in the biochemical composition of particulate organic matter sedimentation in the Bay of Banyuls-sur-Mer. Oceanol Acta 21: 783-792 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0399-1784(99)80006-1
  10. Grizzle RE, Langan R, Howell WH. 1992. Growth responses of suspension- feeding bivalve molluscs to changes in water flow: differences between siphonate and non-siphonate taxa. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 162: 213-228 https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-0981(92)90202-L
  11. Grizzle RE, Morin PJ. 1989. Effect of tidal currents, seston, and bottom sediments on growth of Mercenaria mercenaria: results of a field experiment. Mar Biol 102: 85-93 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00391326
  12. Hadley NH, Manzi JJ. 1984. Growth of seed clams, Mercenaria mercenaria, at various densities in a commercial scale nursery system. Aquaculture 36: 369-378 https://doi.org/10.1016/0044-8486(84)90329-6
  13. Hilbish TJ. 1986. Growth trajectories of shell and soft tissue in bivalves: seasonal variation in Mytilus edulis L. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 96: 103-113 https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-0981(86)90236-4
  14. Jorgensen CB, Famme P, Kristensen HS, Larsen HS, Mohlenberg PS, Riisgard HU. 1986. The bivalve pump. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 34: 69-77 https://doi.org/10.3354/meps034069
  15. Judge ML, Coen LD, Heck KL. 1992. The effect of long-term alteration of in situ water currents on the growth of Mercenaria mercenaria in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Limnol Oceanogr 37: 1550-1559 https://doi.org/10.4319/lo.1992.37.7.1550
  16. Kirby-Smith WW. 1972. Growth of the bay scallop: The influence of experimental currents. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 8: 7-18 https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-0981(72)90051-2
  17. Morton B. 1990. The life cycle and sexual strategy of Gafrarium pectinatum (Bivalvia: Veneridae) in a Hong Kong mangrove. Malacol Rev 23: 53-62
  18. Morton B, Morton J. 1983. The Seashore Ecology of Hong Kong. Hong Kong University Press, Hong Kong
  19. Newell CR, Shumway SE. 1993. Grazing of natural particulates by bivalve molluscs: a spatial and temporal perspectives. In: Bivalve Filter Feeders in Estuarine and Coastal Ecosystem Processes (Dame RF, ed). Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp 85-148
  20. Peterson CH, Black R. 1991. Preliminary evidence for progressive food depletion in incoming tide over a broad tidal sand flat. Est Coast Shelf Sci 32: 405-413 https://doi.org/10.1016/0272-7714(91)90052-D
  21. Seed R. 1980. Shell growth and form in the Bivalvia. In: Skeletal Growth of Aquatic Organisms (Rhoads RC, Lutz RA, eds). Plenum Press, New York, pp 23-67
  22. Shin PKS, Cheung S-G. 2005. A study of soft shore habitats in Hong Kong for conservation and education purposes. Final Report, Environment and Conservation Project 23/99. City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
  23. Strickland JDH, Parsons TR. 1972. A Practical Handbook of Seawater Analysis. Fisheries Research Board of Canada, Ottawa
  24. Wildish DJ. 1977. Factors controlling marine and estuarine sublittoral macrofauna. Helgol wissenschaftliche Meeresunters 30: 445-454 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02207853
  25. Wildish DJ, Kristmanson DD. 1979. Tidal energy and sublittoral macrobenthic animals in estuaries. J Fish Res Board Can 36: 1197-1206 https://doi.org/10.1139/f79-173
  26. Wildish DJ, Kristmanson DD. 1984. Importance to mussels of the benthic boundary layer. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 41: 1618-1625 https://doi.org/10.1139/f84-200
  27. Wildish DJ, Kristmanson DD. 1985. Control of suspension feeding bivalve production by current speed. Helgo Meeresunters 39: 237-243 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01992771
  28. Wildish DJ, Kristmanson DD. 1988. Growth response of giant scallops to periodicity of flow. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 42: 163-169 https://doi.org/10.3354/meps042163
  29. Wildish DJ, Miyares MP. 1990. Filtration rate of blue mussels as a function of flow velocity: preliminary experiments. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 142: 213-219 https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-0981(90)90092-Q
  30. Wildish DJ, Kristmanson DD. 1997. Benthic Suspension Feeders and Flow. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
  31. Wildish DJ, Kristmanson DD, Hoar RL, DeCoste AM, McCormich SD, White AW. 1987. Giant scallop feeding and growth response to flow. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 113: 207-220 https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-0981(87)90101-8
  32. Wong W-H, Cheung S-G. 2003. Site-related differences in the feeding physiology of the green mussel Perna viridis (L.): a reciprocal transplantation experiment. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 258: 147-159 https://doi.org/10.3354/meps258147
  33. Zar JH. 1996. Biostatistical Analysis, 3rd ed. Prentice Hall, New Jersey