Vertical migration of the clam Mercenaria mercenaria (L.) (Mollusca:Bivalvia): environmental correlates and ecological significance

Roberts, Deirdre; Rittschof, Dan; Gerhart, Donald J.; Schmidt, A. R.; Hill, Loren G.

doi:10.1016/0022-0981(89)90192-5

Cited by 30 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Specimens were collected by hand from shallow (<1 m) muddy sediments below mean low water spring tide (MLWS). These clams are typically buried in the sediment from 0 to 25 mm deep, but all siphon water from the water column (Roberts et al, 1989). Additionally, to test if any pattern found in these shells is the result of modern changes in the environment, a Pliocene ($3.2 million years old) shell was collected from the Duplin Formation in South Carolina (1.5 km northwest of Timmonsville) and analyzed.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A large metabolic carbon contribution to the δ13C record in marine aragonitic bivalve shells

Gillikin

Lorrain

et al. 2007

Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta

139

126

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It is well known that the incorporation of isotopically light metabolic carbon (C M ) significantly affects the stable carbon isotope (d 13 C) signal recorded in biogenic carbonates. This can obscure the record of d 13 C of seawater dissolved inorganic carbon (d 13 C DIC ) potentially archived in the shell carbonate. To assess the C M contribution to Mercenaria mercenaria shells collected in North Carolina, USA, we sampled seawater d 13 C DIC , tissue, hemolymph and shell d 13 C. All shells showed an ontogenic decrease in shell d 13 C, with as much as a 4& decrease over the lifespan of the clam. There was no apparent ontogenic change in food source indicated by soft tissue d 13 C values, therefore a change in the respired d 13 C value cannot be the cause of this decrease. Hemolymph d 13 C, on the other hand, did exhibit a negative relationship with shell height indicating that respired CO 2 does influence the d 13 C value of internal fluids and that the amount of respired CO 2 is related to the size or age of the bivalve. The percent metabolic C incorporated into the shell (%C M ) was significantly higher (up to 37%, with a range from 5% to 37%) than has been found in other bivalve shells, which usually contain less than 10%C M . Interestingly, the hemolymph did contain less than 10%C M , suggesting that complex fractionation might occur between hemolymph and calcifying fluids. Simple shell biometrics explained nearly 60% of the observed variability in %C M , however, this is not robust enough to predict %C M for fossil shells. Thus, the metabolic effect on shell d 13 C cannot easily be accounted for to allow reliable d 13 C DIC reconstructions. However, there does seem to be a common effect of size, as all sites had indistinguishable slopes between the %C M and shell height (+0.19% per mm of shell height).

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A large metabolic carbon contribution to the δ13C record in marine aragonitic bivalve shells

Gillikin

Lorrain

et al. 2007

Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta

139

126

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“…Two groups of species were expected to benefit most from the exclusion of predators: sedentary polychaetes or clams unable to escape by emigration or burial (Roberts et al 1989), and infaunal predatory species (Commito and Ambrose 1985). In our experiments, sedentary polychaetes such as the maldanid P. praetermissa, the sabellid Euchone papillosa, and the ampheretid Lyssipe labiata, were nearly twice as abundant in exclusion treatments than in ambient sediments in East Arm.…”

Section: Predation Effects On Compositionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Predation regulation of sedimentary faunal structure: potential effects of a fishery-induced switch in predators in a Newfoundland sub-Arctic fjord

Quijón

Snelgrove

2005

Oecologia

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The collapse of the cod fishery in Newfoundland has coincided with marked increases in abundances of snow crab, pandalid shrimp, and other crustaceans that prey on sedimentary infauna. A 3-year sampling program in Bonne Bay, Newfoundland indicates differences in composition and number of these predators in the two main arms of the fjord that coincide with strong differences in benthic community structure. To test whether predation pressure contributes to the observed patterns in sedimentary fauna, exclusion field experiments with full and partial cages were deployed in both arms at 30-m depth and sampled along with ambient sediments at 0-, 4-, and 8-week periods. Predation significantly influenced species composition, abundance and, in some cases, diversity. The most striking changes included increases in the polychaetes Phöloe tecta and Ophelina cylindricaudata in exclusions relative to controls, and concurrent declines in the polychaete Paradoneis lyra and the cumacean Lamphros fuscata. In laboratory experiments, fresh non-disturbed sediment cores from each experimental area were either protected or exposed to snow crab, the most abundant predator in the bay. A snow crab inclusion experiment was also carried out in the field, using cages similar to those used for exclusions. Despite differences in sedimentary faunas in the two arms, both types of experiments detected a predator effect that was very similar to that documented in exclusion experiments. Thus, despite differences in the scales associated with each type of manipulation, our results suggest that crab predation is a significant structuring force in Newfoundland sedimentary communities. Given the historical changes that have occurred in predator composition as a result of cod over-fishing, we hypothesize that broad-scale community changes may be taking place in North Atlantic benthic ecosystems.

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“…Examples of similar relationships between predator and prey are also evident in aquatic ecosystems: in freshwater habitats, isopods respond to the presence of predators by burying deeper into the sediment (Huang and Sih 1991), and in marine habitats, predators (e.g. ®sh, shrimps and crabs) may increase the use of vegetation cover by mobile invertebrates (Stoner 1980;Main 1987) and in¯uence feeding mode (Skilleter and Peterson 1994), vertical distribution and migration (Roberts et al 1989;Kamermans and Huitema 1994) and survival (Irlandi et al 1995) of infaunal bivalves.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

The relative importance of food and shelter for seagrass-associated invertebrates: a latitudinal comparison of habitat choice by isopod grazers

Boström¹,

Mattila

1999

Oecologia

114

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The generality of mechanisms affecting habitat choice and grazing in seagrass meadows was evaluated in a latitudinal comparison of seagrass grazers from the temperate (60°N) Baltic Sea and the subtropical (30°N) Gulf of Mexico. Using similar habitat choice experiment set-ups in Finland and the USA, the role of food type, habitat complexity and predation hazard on habitat choice of the isopods Idotea baltica (Pallas) and Erichsonella attenuata Harger were tested. When shelter was provided by both living and artificial seagrass, epiphytic food resources on artificial vegetation were clearly preferred by both species, although Idotea was attracted to epiphyte-free seagrass when no alternative food was present. When choosing between food and shelter, both species preferred epiphytic food over shelter. However, under predation hazard of fish, Erichsonella clearly switched to the habitat offering shelter, while the presence of a predatory fish produced no preference for shelter by Idotea. Food type may be considered as an universal mechanism that partly determines the presence of grazers in seagrass habitats and is, in the absence of a predator, more important than shelter. Predation risk affected the behaviour of the grazers, but the response varied between species possibly due to varying importance of fish predation in the areas studied.

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Vertical migration of the clam Mercenaria mercenaria (L.) (Mollusca:Bivalvia): environmental correlates and ecological significance

Cited by 30 publications

References 15 publications

A large metabolic carbon contribution to the δ13C record in marine aragonitic bivalve shells

A large metabolic carbon contribution to the δ13C record in marine aragonitic bivalve shells

Predation regulation of sedimentary faunal structure: potential effects of a fishery-induced switch in predators in a Newfoundland sub-Arctic fjord

The relative importance of food and shelter for seagrass-associated invertebrates: a latitudinal comparison of habitat choice by isopod grazers

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