• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.127-133
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• 2007

The effects of water flow rate and phytoplankton concentration on the growth of the sandy shore clam Gafrarium tumidum was investigated in a laboratory flume study using a $3{\times}3$ factorial design. After 60 days, shell length, shell weight and tissue dry weight increased significantly with phytoplankton concentration. For the effect of flow rate, growth was faster when flow rate increased from low to medium level; further increases in flow rate, however, either did not sustain faster growth or resulted in a reduction in growth. The condition index (CI) of a standard-sized clam was significantly higher at low flow rate than at medium and high flow rates and was negatively correlated with phytoplankton concentration. The uncoupled growth of shell and tissue in response to flow rate and phytoplankton concentration may be adaptations to low food environments, so that energy can either be stored to sustain life or reserved for gametogenesis during the reproductive period.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.109-119
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• 2007

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.