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Clearance rate responses of Mediterranean mussels, Mytilus galloprovincialis, to variations in the flow, water temperature, food quality and quantity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 July 1999

Lionel Denis
Affiliation:
Centre d'océanologie de Marseille, université de la Méditerranée, CNRS UMR 6535 LOB, station marine d'Endoume, rue de la Batterie des Lions, 13007 Marseille, France
Elizabeth Alliot
Affiliation:
Centre d'océanologie de Marseille, université de la Méditerranée, CNRS UMR 6540 Dimar, station marine d'Endoume, rue de la Batterie des Lions, 13007 Marseille, France
Daniel Grzebyk
Affiliation:
CREMA L'Houmeau, CNRS Ifremer, B.P. 5, 17137 L'Houmeau, France
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Abstract

The impact of Mediterranean mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis Lamarck) on particle removal from the water column under different flow velocities was measured in the laboratory within a recirculating flume. At 20 °C, the filtration rates increased with current velocity up to 20−25 cm·s−1. Filtration rates remained the same at 26 °C. At high phytoplankton concentration (Cryptophyceae: 8 500−11 000 Cryptomonas sp. cells·mL−1), filtration rates were low (0.2−0.4 L·h−1 per standard individual of 1 g dry weight), whereas higher filtration rates (0.5−2.5 L·h−1 per standard individual) were observed with lower concentrations of the algae Prorocentrum minimum (Dinophyceae : 1 300−5 800 cells·mL−1). The filtration rates of M. galloprovincialis were affected by high phytoplankton loads, and exhibited a maximum related to current velocity. Our results suggest that mussels, feeding over a wide range of seston concentrations and flow velocities, show an adaptive behaviour in an area where environmental conditions are known to vary drastically.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© Elsevier, IRD, Inra, Ifremer, Cemagref, CNRS, 1999

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