Growth patterns of the pan‐European freshwater mussel, <i>Anodonta anatina</i> (Linnaeus, 1758) (Bivalvia: Unionidae), vary with sex and mortality in populations

Müller, Tomasz; Łabęcka, Anna Maria; Zając, Katarzyna; Czarnołęski, Marcin

doi:10.1002/ece3.7250

Cited by 13 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…In contrast, we used the system with a nonreproductive larval stage in an intermediate host and showed that the fouling status affected the parasite abundance, and digenean prevalence decreased with the increasing weight of fouling dreissenids on gastropod hosts (Figure 4). The different strategies of infectious digenean larvae in host finding and host recognition (Haas, 2003) are probably the reason for the discrepancy between our results on digenean prevalence and those of other researchers (Brian et al, 2021; Müller et al, 2015, 2021). Successful infection by a miracidium and cercaria depends on different factors at both the individual and population levels of their hosts (Zimmermann et al, 2016).…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 97%

“…In earlier field surveys, the dreissenid-induced dilution effect on digenean trematodes has been mainly considered for fouled unionids acting as the first intermediate hosts (Brian et al, 2021;Müller et al, 2015Müller et al, , 2021. These studies did not find significant effects of biofouling on parasite prevalence, while in such a system it was difficult to explicitly test infection intensity (as digenean larvae reproduce in their first intermediate host).…”

Section: Biofouling Versus Parasite Infectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Friends or enemies: Multi‐species interactions among biofoulers, endoparasites and their gastropod hosts

Stanicka

Szopieray

Migdalski

et al. 2022

Journal of Animal Ecology

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Parasites are a crucial factor that shapes the functioning of communities throughout the world, as are gregarious macrofoulers in aquatic ecosystems. However, little is known about the effects of three‐way interactions between macrofoulers, endoparasites and their hosts. We predict that macrofouling and parasite infection may act (i) independently of each other, (ii) synergistically, increasing their final negative impact on the host or (iii) antagonistically, the former weakening the negative impact of the latter. We investigated multiway relationships between an invasive freshwater filter‐feeding macrofouler (the zebra mussel), digenean endoparasite and their gastropod host, Viviparus viviparus. Furthermore, we checked the recruitment of mussels in living gastropods versus their empty shells. We sampled living V. viviparus and their empty shells with attached dreissenids from a Polish dam reservoir. We counted and weighed attached mussels and determined wet weight, shell height and sex of gastropods. Then we dissected the molluscs to look for digenean larvae and gastropod embryos. We use these parameters to look for reciprocal associations between mussel fouling, parasitic infection and gastropod size and fertility, as well as to infer the most likely mechanisms of the observed relationships. Dreissenid overgrowth was associated with reduced fertility and size of viviparids, but also with a lower prevalence of digenean metacercariae (Leucochloridiomorpha sp.). We did not observe a negative influence of these digeneans on their gastropod hosts. In addition, large living viviparids and their empty shells were equally used as substrates by dreissenids, but small living gastropods were more fouled than shells of the corresponding size. A trade‐off exists in the studied system: filter‐feeding macrofoulers may bring some profits for their host, reducing the pressure of waterborne parasites (which may be crucial in the case of pathogenic species/life stages), although at the cost of the reduced growth and fertility of the host. Furthermore, mussels attached to mollusc hosts can exert a cascading effect on the reduced prevalence of digeneans in their final hosts, including those of medical or veterinary importance.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 97%

Section: Biofouling Versus Parasite Infectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Friends or enemies: Multi‐species interactions among biofoulers, endoparasites and their gastropod hosts

Stanicka

Szopieray

Migdalski

et al. 2022

Journal of Animal Ecology

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“…(2015), Müller et al. (2021), who also showed, using multiple Polish lakes, that zebra mussels were not correlated with trematodes at the individual level but that their prevalences were inversely related at the population level. Given that zebra mussels do not host R. campanula (Brian & Aldridge, 2019), it may be that attempted trematode infections in D .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Population‐level effects of parasitism on a freshwater ecosystem engineer, the unionid mussel Anodonta anatina

et al. 2021

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Parasites can negatively affect hosts at individual, population, and species‐level scales. However, the link between individual‐ and population‐level impacts is often poorly understood. In particular, the population‐level response to parasitism may alter wider ecosystem dynamics if animals with ecosystem engineering capabilities are infected. Here, we examine the effects of parasitism on a freshwater ecosystem engineer, the unionid mussel Anodonta anatina, at two different sites. We study three common parasites: the digenean trematode Rhipidocotyle campanula; the unionicolid mite Unionicola intermedia; and the ectoparasitic invasive zebra mussel Dreissena polymorpha. As well as demonstrating the individual‐level effects of parasitism on the native host mussel, we construct a simple model to estimate the reduction in population‐level reproductive output caused by parasites. We show that both infection prevalence and intensity were population‐specific, with one site having more than three times as many native mussels infected by trematodes and mites than the other, but more than four times fewer mussels afflicted by invasive zebra mussels. Negative reproductive consequences for individual host mussels were documented as a result of parasitism, with trematodes causing castration at both sites. Mites were also correlated with a reduction in the viability of larval offspring (glochidia) by more than 25%, but only at one site, suggesting some potential impacts of parasitism may be population specific. The population‐level model shows that parasitism alone reduces larval output of the two populations by 10% and 13%, respectively. Our study takes the important step of scaling individual‐level effects of parasitism to population‐level processes, and highlights the influence that parasites may have in the population dynamics of unionid mussels. Given the ecosystem engineering capabilities of A. anatina, such effects may have important impacts on the wider biota. Even at relatively low prevalences, the observed effects of parasites on native mussel populations suggests that parasitism must be considered in the conservation of freshwater mussels, one of the world's most globally imperilled faunal groups. Further, understanding how the effects of parasitism on individual hosts scales to the ecosystem level is a crucial and unaddressed question in freshwater biology.

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“…We found reduced growth in 2020 compared to 1964 across all species. Unionid populations have highly variable growth patterns even within species, with von Bertalanffy growth parameters differing both within and between locations (Haag & Rypel, 2011 ; Muller et al, 2021 ). Variations in size and shell morphology are correlated with environmental variables including flow regime (Zieritz & Aldridge, 2009 ), mortality rate and waterbody trophic status (Muller et al, 2021 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Unionid populations have highly variable growth patterns even within species, with von Bertalanffy growth parameters differing both within and between locations (Haag & Rypel, 2011 ; Muller et al, 2021 ). Variations in size and shell morphology are correlated with environmental variables including flow regime (Zieritz & Aldridge, 2009 ), mortality rate and waterbody trophic status (Muller et al, 2021 ). Flow rate is unlikely to have contributed significantly here since analysis has shown no significant changes in maximum flow or flood events in the period since 1951 for the River Thames (Marsh & Harvey, 2012 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Declines in freshwater mussel density, size and productivity in the River Thames over the past half century

Ollard

Aldridge

2022

Journal of Animal Ecology

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A pioneering, quantitative study published in Journal of Animal Ecology in 1966 on freshwater mussel populations in the River Thames, UK, continues to be cited extensively as evidence of the major contribution that mussels make to benthic biomass and ecosystem functioning in global river ecosystems. Ecological alteration, as well as declines in freshwater mussel populations elsewhere, suggest that changes to mussel populations in the River Thames are likely to have occurred over the half century since this study. We resurveyed the site reported in Negus (1966) and quantified the changes in mussel population density, species composition, growth patterns and productivity. We found large declines in population density for all unionid species. The duck mussel Anodonta anatina decreased to 1.1% of 1964 density. The painter's mussel Unio pictorum fell to 3.2% of 1964 density. The swollen river mussel Unio tumidus showed statistically nonsignificant declines. In contrast to 1964, in 2020 we found no living specimens of the depressed river mussel Pseudanodonta complanata (classified as Vulnerable by the IUCN Red List) but found new records of the invasive, nonnative zebra mussel Dreissena polymorpha and Asian clam Corbicula fluminea. Additionally, we found strong decreases in size‐at‐age for all species, which now grow to 65–90% of maximum lengths in 1964. As a result of reduced density and size, estimated annual biomass production fell to 7.5% of 1964 levels. Since mussels can be important to ecosystem functioning, providing key regulating and provisioning services, the declines we found imply substantial degradation of freshwater ecosystem services in the River Thames, one of the UK's largest rivers. Our study also highlights the importance to conservationists and ecologists of updating and validating assumptions and data about wild populations, which in the present era of anthropogenic ecosystem alteration are undergoing significant and rapid changes. Regular population surveys of key species are essential to maintain an accurate picture of ecosystem health and to guide management.

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Growth patterns of the pan‐European freshwater mussel, Anodonta anatina (Linnaeus, 1758) (Bivalvia: Unionidae), vary with sex and mortality in populations

Abstract: This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Cited by 13 publications

References 56 publications

Friends or enemies: Multi‐species interactions among biofoulers, endoparasites and their gastropod hosts

Friends or enemies: Multi‐species interactions among biofoulers, endoparasites and their gastropod hosts

Population‐level effects of parasitism on a freshwater ecosystem engineer, the unionid mussel Anodonta anatina

Declines in freshwater mussel density, size and productivity in the River Thames over the past half century

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