Environmental controls on daily shell growth of Phacosoma japonicum (Bivalvia: Veneridae) from Japan

Abstract

This study examined the environmental factors controlling the daily shell deposition of the intertidal bivalve Phacosoma japonicum from Seto Inland Sea, west Japan, and Tokyo Bay, central Japan. Sclerochronological analyses of microgrowth patterns in marked-and-recovered specimens indicate that a pair of 2 etch-sensitive increments and 2 etch-resistant lines is formed every lunar day (duration 24.8 h). The accretionary pattern of the lunar day growth increments (LDGIs) reflects tidal cycles. Prominent growth lines were formed during spring tides, when the bivalves were subaerially exposed, and weak ones were deposited during neap tides, when they were continuously submerged. The bivalves stop secreting shell carbonate during winter and early spring. The time interval encompassed by the winter break in the specimens from Tokyo Bay lengthened as the shells grew older. Although seawater temperature is the main controlling factor for shell growth, a number of mutually related environmental factors such as salinity and food availability also affect shell growth. In Tokyo Bay, the broadest LDGIs were deposited between temperatures of 21 and 24°C. Our findings provide a basis for the interpretation of the temporal changes in shell microgrowth patterns in terms of environmental conditions of extant and fossil P. japonicum specimens.

Growth estimations of the Argentinean wedge clam Donax hanleyanus: A comparison between length-frequency distribution and size-increment analysis

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Shell growth and reproductive cycle of the Mediterranean mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis in Tokyo Bay, Japan: relationship with environmental conditions

“…In this regard, bivalve mollusks preserve high-resolution records of life-history traits and environmental change in their incremental shell sequence (e.g., Schöne et al 2002, Miyaji et al 2007). Sessile epifaunal bivalves of the intertidal zone are suitable subjects for analyses of environmental and physiological controls on shell growth, as living animals are in direct contact with the surrounding seawater during high tides and are subaerially exposed during low tides.…”

Shell sclerochronology and stable isotopes of the bivalve Anomalocardia flexuosa (Linnaeus, 1767) from southern Brazil: Implications for environmental and archaeological studies

“…In short, after measuring the single increments, the 216 exponential growth function for each shell was estimated, and then a growth index (GI) calculated by 217 dividing the measured value by the estimated growth at each measurement (ratio-based GI). A series of 218 filters (high, low and band pass) were then used to explore low, medium and high frequency signals on 219 growth incremental series (Miyaji et al, 2007;Schöne, 2013). The main source of carbon isotopes in bivalve shells is dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) (e.g.…”