Reproductive cycles in littoral populations of Choromytilus meridionalis (Kr.) and Aulacomya ater (Molina) with a quantitative assessment of gamete production in the former

Griffiths, Roberta J.

doi:10.1016/0022-0981(77)90027-2

Cited by 55 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Griffiths (1977) found no significant differences between female and male Choromytilus meridionalis. The trend observed may have been caused by the increased care which was taken with the females in later rearing experiments.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 54%

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Reproduction and fecundity of the musselmytilus edulis at helgoland (North sea)

Sprung

1983

Helgolander Meeresunters

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The reproductive cycle of a Mytilus edulis population in the lower tidal zone at the island of Helgoland from Spring 1980 to Summer 1981 is described. In both years the spawning period extended from the end of April until the end of June at water temperatures between 6 ° and 14 °C. The gametes were built up again in autumn and most individuals were mature in February. Sex ratio did not differ significantly from 1:1. Fecundity, egg diameter and gamete weight of this and another population in the subtidal zone were assessed and size frequency distribution of shell lengths was established. Based on data of body weight prior to spawning, the following tendencies could be outlined: animals of the intertidal population had significantly smaller eggs than those from the subtidal area. Although the soft body biomass per unit area of the subtidal population was nearly double that of the tidal, their annual egg output was nearly the same (2.3 x 109 eggs m-2). This was achieved by a smaller size at the onset of sexual maturation (18 mm instead of 30 mm shell length) and a higher egg output at comparable shell lengths in the intertidal, tn both populations, large animals contributed most to gamete production, although they did not necessarily dominate in biomass. INTRODUCTIONIt is a well known phenomenon that recruitment by means of a planktonic larva is correlated with a high gamete production (Crisp, 1974). This holds true, also for the mussel Mytilus edulis L. which forms a dominating element in many tidal habitats of marine coasts.The anatomy of their gonads has been described by Field (1922) and White (1937): the reproductive tissue extends nearly through the whole body except the foot, the gills and the muscles. Thus, the gonads form a considerable part of the body weight prior to spawning. Widdows (1978), for example, estimated that they can contribute up to 35 % of the soft body weight. Thompson (1979) calculated the reproductive tissue as 20 to 59 % increasing with mussel size, and Mix et al. (1982) obtained a value of 11 to 20 % of the tissue weight for mussels of 40-60 mm shell length. However, exact estimates of the gamete output of mussels of various sizes have been rare (see e.g. Mateeva, 1948or Thompson, 1979. Beyond this, in few papers have fecundity data been related to populations. Only Griffiths (1977Griffiths ( , 1981 made some estimates for a population of Choromytilus meridionalis at South African coasts and Kautsky (1982) for a population of 1Vl. edulis in a brackish water environment near Aske (Sweden).The reproductive cycle of mussels can be followed by an assessment of the morpho-

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 54%

“…Beyond this, in few papers have fecundity data been related to populations. Only Griffiths (1977Griffiths ( , 1981 made some estimates for a population of Choromytilus meridionalis at South African coasts and Kautsky (1982) for a population of 1Vl. edulis in a brackish water environment near Aske (Sweden).…”

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confidence: 99%

Reproduction and fecundity of the musselmytilus edulis at helgoland (North sea)

Sprung

1983

Helgolander Meeresunters

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“…Thus, in gravid Perna perna, gonads account for > 50% of body mass (Berry 1978, van Erkom Schurink & Griffiths 1991, and laboratory spawning resulted in a 60% reduction in tissue AFDW. These values correspond to post-spawning tissue biomass losses of 40 to 50% in the 1993 FP and 1992 MP cohorts and post-spawning individual tissue biomass reductions of 50 to 60% in Choromytilus meridionalis (Griffiths 1977) and 29 to 47% in Mytilus edulis (Thompson 1979).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 60%

“…In contrast, tropical/subtropical mytilids may be stimulated to spawn during unpredictable phytoplankton blooms or periods of elevated temperatures (for review see Griffiths & Griffiths 1987), leading to their characteristic asynchronous reproductive patterns. Thus, the subtropical species C. meridionalis and A. ater have multiple, asynchronous spawning events associated with phytoplankton availability (Griffiths 1977). In these 2 species, mature gametes were continuously present in the gonads, suggesting that gametes were being released over prolonged periods (Griffiths 1977).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This result suggests that organic energy stores accounted for a greater proportion of mean individual tissue AFDW biomass in the 1993 FP cohort which spawned within its first year than in the 1993 MP cohort which did not spawn within its first year of life. Reduction in individual tissue AFDW as a marker for spawning periods has been documented for a number of mytilid species, including Perna perna, by microscopic examination of gonad sections (Baird 1966, Griffiths 1977, Dix & Ferguson 1984, Shafee 1989, van Erkom Schurink & Griffiths 1991 and weight loss in pre-versus post-spawned individuals (Griffiths 1977, Thompson 1979). Spawning, marked by decline in individual tissue AFDW, was initiated in the 1993 FP and 1992 MP cohorts in early spring 1994 as average ambient water temperatures rose to 18-20°C from mid-winter lows of 12-15°C (Fig.…”

Section: Mean Individual Biomass Production and Reproductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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