An Experiment to Determine Substrate Preference of the Fingernail Clam, Sphaerium Transversum (SAY)

Gale, William F.

doi:10.2307/1934599

Cited by 17 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…Lopez & Holopainen (1987), for example, found that higher fingernail clam counts were associated with fine sands and silt‐dominated substrates. Experiments by Gale (1971) involving M. transversum indicated that clams preferred silt‐clay over sand with silt‐clay, and the latter over sand. Last, a series of laboratory experiments found adult M. transversum survivorship to be inversely related to both particle size and depth of added sand (Rogers, 1976).…”

Section: Habitat Predictorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modelling habitat associations with fingernail clam (Family: Sphaeriidae) counts at multiple spatial scales using hierarchical count models

et al. 2005

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1. Macroinvertebrate count data often exhibit nested or hierarchical structure. Examples include multiple measurements along each of a set of streams, and multiple synoptic measurements from each of a set of ponds. With data exhibiting hierarchical structure, outcomes at both sampling (e.g. within stream) and aggregated (e.g. stream) scales are often of interest. Unfortunately, methods for modelling hierarchical count data have received little attention in the ecological literature. 2. We demonstrate the use of hierarchical count models using fingernail clam (Family: Sphaeriidae) count data and habitat predictors derived from sampling and aggregated spatial scales. The sampling scale corresponded to that of a standard Ponar grab (0.052 m 2 ) and the aggregated scale to impounded and backwater regions within 38-197 km reaches of the Upper Mississippi River. Impounded and backwater regions were resampled annually for 10 years. Consequently, measurements on clams were nested within years. Counts were treated as negative binomial random variates, and means from each resampling event as random departures from the impounded and backwater region grand means. 3. Clam models were improved by the addition of covariates that varied at both the sampling and regional scales. Substrate composition varied at the sampling scale and was associated with model improvements, and reductions (for a given mean) in variance at the sampling scale. Inorganic suspended solids (ISS) levels, measured in the summer preceding sampling, also yielded model improvements and were associated with reductions in variances at the regional rather than sampling scales. ISS levels were negatively associated with mean clam counts. 4. Hierarchical models allow hierarchically structured data to be modelled without ignoring information specific to levels of the hierarchy. In addition, information at each hierarchical level may be modelled as functions of covariates that themselves vary by and within levels. As a result, hierarchical models provide researchers and resource managers with a method for modelling hierarchical data that explicitly recognises both the sampling design and the information contained in the corresponding data.

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Section: Habitat Predictorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modelling habitat associations with fingernail clam (Family: Sphaeriidae) counts at multiple spatial scales using hierarchical count models

et al. 2005

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“…Fingernail clams are considered to be relatively inactive, especially in hypoxic conditions (e.g., Holopainen and Penttinen 1993); locomotion has been documented in only one species (European fingernail clam, Sphaerium corneum (L., 1758)) (Wu and Trueman 1984). Dispersal of sphaeriids tends to be strongly influenced by substrate type (which did not vary markedly along our transect) and not by water current (Gale 1971(Gale , 1973.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 69%

A fingernail clam (Sphaerium sp.) shows higher reproductive success in hypoxic waters

et al. 2011

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Low dissolved O2, or hypoxia, is becoming increasingly prevalent in aquatic habitats and is considered to be stressful for aerobic organisms. However, hypoxia also can be beneficial by decreasing cellular stress, particularly that related to free radicals. Therefore, an animal’s ideal habitat may have the minimum O2 necessary to sustain aerobic metabolism, with excess O2 increasing the need to scavenge free radicals and repair free radical damage. Here we show that a natural population of small (<9 mm shell length) freshwater clams (genus Sphaerium Scopoli, 1777) lives along a dissolved O2 gradient from extreme hypoxia to moderate hypoxia. We tested the hypothesis that clams living in extreme hypoxia would have higher reproductive success than clams that live in moderate hypoxia. Clam abundance was highest in water with very low dissolved O2, conditions previously demonstrated to decrease cellular stress. The internally brooding clams reproduced year-round and had higher reproductive output in extreme hypoxia than in moderate hypoxia. The findings demonstrate that the apparent cellular-level benefits of hypoxia may translate into increased fitness, especially for small organisms.

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“…Musculium transvelwum are filter feeders that are generally most abundant in habitats with low vegetation density and soft. silty-sandy substrates (Carlson, 1968;Gale, 1971Gale, , 1975Anderson & Day, 1986).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Declining populations of the fingernail clamMusculium transversum in the upper Mississippi River

et al. 1995

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An Experiment to Determine Substrate Preference of the Fingernail Clam, Sphaerium Transversum (SAY)

Cited by 17 publications

References 2 publications

Modelling habitat associations with fingernail clam (Family: Sphaeriidae) counts at multiple spatial scales using hierarchical count models

Modelling habitat associations with fingernail clam (Family: Sphaeriidae) counts at multiple spatial scales using hierarchical count models

A fingernail clam (Sphaerium sp.) shows higher reproductive success in hypoxic waters

Declining populations of the fingernail clamMusculium transversum in the upper Mississippi River

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