Comparative study of ecophysiological and biochemical variation between the Baltic and North Sea populations of the invasive soft shell clam Mya arenaria (L. 1758)

Abstract

Seasonal variations of environmental factors, such as temperature and salinity, require metabolic acclimatization in sedentary benthic fauna distributed over a wide geographical range. The soft-shell clam Mya arenaria inhabits the coastal waters of the North Atlantic including North America and Europe. In Europe, M. arenaria populations are distributed from Iceland to the Mediterranean Sea, including the North Sea, the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea. Seasonal changes in physiological parameters (gonad index, condition index, biochemical composition and respiration rate) of M. arenaria from the Baltic Sea (the Gulf of Gdańsk, Poland), and the North Sea (Versee Meer, the Netherlands) were studied. The sex ratio of both populations did not differ from 1:1 and the seasonal gonad index was higher in the Baltic population. The average condition index changed seasonally at both studied sites, and was also higher in the Baltic population (except the autumn) compared to the North Sea. In * Corresponding author: ocemw@ug.edu.pl both studied populations, the content of proteins, lipids and carbohydrates in the soft tissue followed the seasonal variations, and it was higher in the Baltic population. The respiration rate was lower in the Baltic population, and seasonal changes in the respiration rate seem to be correlated with changes in the water temperature. Based on the results obtained in the present study, we suggest that Mya arenaria is characterized by a large phenotypic plasticity and differences in the observed physiological traits are due to acclimatization to ambient environmental conditions.

Metabolic response to increasing environmental temperature in the invasive mussel Limnoperna fortunei

“…1990; Wu 2002; Lasota et al . 2014; Paolucci et al . 2014) and chemical composition (Nakamura Filho et al .…”

“…The goals of this study were (i) to assess variations in oxygen consumption and standard metabolic rate as a response to different acclimation temperatures (18°C, 22°C and 27°C) and compare them with previous results on this species in its native range, and (ii) to analyse SMR variation as function of mussel size. Since environmental conditions, including pollution, may affect morphometry and metabolism, the biochemical (Leavitt et al 1990;Wu 2002;Lasota et al 2014;Paolucci et al 2014) andchemical composition (Nakamura Filho et al 2014;Nunes et al 2018) of soft tissue and shells, respectively, was studied in order to characterize the population.…”

Multimarker response to salinity stress in two estuarine bivalves of different genetic diversity: Mya arenaria and Limecola balthica from the Gulf of Gdańsk (southern Baltic Sea)

“…In L. balthica, there is high genetic variability within and among populations, which can reflect local adaptations to specific environmental conditions (e.g., Hummel et al 2000;Becquet et al 2013). By contrast, there is low genetic diversity in protein-coding genes in M. arenaria across the species' geographic range (Lasota et al 2004(Lasota et al , 2016Strasser & Barber 2009), which suggests potential acclimatization to different local conditions, but not local genetic adaptation (i.e., allele frequency changes by natural selection) (Lasota et al 2014). Even though there is no irrefutable evidence that L. balthica from the Baltic is genetically adapted to the low salinity of this water-basin, some genetic and ecophysiological studies suggest this possibility (V€ ain€ ol€ a 2003; Kube et al 2006Kube et al , 2007.…”

“…Even though there is no irrefutable evidence that L. balthica from the Baltic is genetically adapted to the low salinity of this water-basin, some genetic and ecophysiological studies suggest this possibility (V€ ain€ ol€ a 2003; Kube et al 2006Kube et al , 2007. By contrast, there is low genetic diversity in protein-coding genes in M. arenaria across the species' geographic range (Lasota et al 2004(Lasota et al , 2016Strasser & Barber 2009), which suggests potential acclimatization to different local conditions, but not local genetic adaptation (i.e., allele frequency changes by natural selection) (Lasota et al 2014). Thus, the two species might have evolved different evolutionary strategies for adaptation to heterogeneous environments.…”