Community composition and diversity of twoLimaria hians(Mollusca: Limacea) beds on the west coast of Scotland

Abstract

Limaria hians functions as a keystone species in construction of a highly diverse biogenic habitat. An investigation to quantify the biodiversity of two L. hians beds was carried out during the winter and summer seasons at two sites on the west coast of Scotland. Cores were taken semi-randomly through 100% L. hians nest material, organisms removed, identified and enumerated. Univariate and multivariate analyses of the data were used to establish temporal and locational differences. A total of 7275 individuals were found representing 282 species from 16 phyla. Univariate analysis revealed significant differences between the species richness of the two populations, whilst multivariate analysis illustrated differences in the assemblage compositions between sites and times. This study showed that in terms of richness and diversity these beds are among the most important biogenic habitats in the UK.

Molecular Phylogeny and Morphological Distinctions of Two Popular Bivalves,Ctenoides scaberandCtenoides mitis

“…For example, a diverse spectrum of visual abilities can be found in the family, ranging from eyeless (Limaria) to pit eyes (Lima) to closedlens eyes (Ctenoides) [29][30][31]. Members of the family also show distinct defense mechanisms, including nest-building behavior [20], swimming, tentacle autotomy [14,18,20,21], and, potentially, defensive chemicals [30]. The evolution of these traits cannot be addressed without a comprehensive phylogeny.…”

“…They are well-known to SCUBA divers [9] and shell collectors, and several charismatic species are routinely collected for the aquarium trade [10]. Numerous studies have been conducted on their behavior [11][12][13][14][15][16], morphology [17][18][19], habitat [20][21][22], reproduction [23,24], physiology [25], and vision [26][27][28][29][30][31]. However, systematics studies have only been done on a small number of species in this family [10,19,[32][33][34][35].…”

Molecular Phylogeny and Morphological Distinctions of Two Popular Bivalves,Ctenoides scaberandCtenoides mitis

“…For example, a diverse spectrum of visual abilities can be found in the family, ranging from eyeless (Limaria) to pit eyes (Lima) to closedlens eyes (Ctenoides) [29][30][31]. Members of the family also show distinct defense mechanisms, including nest-building behavior [20], swimming, tentacle autotomy [14,18,20,21], and, potentially, defensive chemicals [30]. The evolution of these traits cannot be addressed without a comprehensive phylogeny.…”

“…They are well-known to SCUBA divers [9] and shell collectors, and several charismatic species are routinely collected for the aquarium trade [10]. Numerous studies have been conducted on their behavior [11][12][13][14][15][16], morphology [17][18][19], habitat [20][21][22], reproduction [23,24], physiology [25], and vision [26][27][28][29][30][31]. However, systematics studies have only been done on a small number of species in this family [10,19,[32][33][34][35].…”

Conservation of aquatic invertebrates: concerns, challenges and conundrums

“…Bryozoan reefs are well developed on the New Zealand shelf where they can extend to several hundred square kilometres in area (Wood et al ., ). Other significant biogenic reefs constructed by marine invertebrates include those of tubicolous polychaetes (Serpulidae, Moore et al ., ; Sabellariidae, Desroy et al ., ; Terebellidae, Rabaut et al ., ), and of bivalve molluscs (Mytilidae, Dinesen and Morton, ; Limidae, Trigg et al ., ; Ostreidae, Cranfield et al ., ).…”

Impacts of sea star predation on mussel bed restoration

“…The habitats created by bioengineering species such as mussels and oysters are an important component of many coastal environments around the world. They provide a number of ecosystem services and functions, including the exchange of nutrients between the water column and the benthic environment as well as the support of abundant and diverse communities of organisms (Hall‐Spencer & Moore ; Meyer & Townsend ; Coen et al ; Commito et al ; Trigg et al ; McLeod et al ). Despite their importance, much of this habitat has been degraded or lost, due to anthropogenic disturbances (de Jonge et al ; Rothschild et al ; Service & Magorrian ; Cranfield et al ).…”

Molecular Phylogeny and Morphological Distinctions of Two Popular Bivalves,Ctenoides scaberandCtenoides mitis

“…For example, a diverse spectrum of visual abilities can be found in the family, ranging from eyeless (Limaria) to pit eyes (Lima) to closedlens eyes (Ctenoides) [29][30][31]. Members of the family also show distinct defense mechanisms, including nest-building behavior [20], swimming, tentacle autotomy [14,18,20,21], and, potentially, defensive chemicals [30]. The evolution of these traits cannot be addressed without a comprehensive phylogeny.…”

“…They are well-known to SCUBA divers [9] and shell collectors, and several charismatic species are routinely collected for the aquarium trade [10]. Numerous studies have been conducted on their behavior [11][12][13][14][15][16], morphology [17][18][19], habitat [20][21][22], reproduction [23,24], physiology [25], and vision [26][27][28][29][30][31]. However, systematics studies have only been done on a small number of species in this family [10,19,[32][33][34][35].…”

Conservation of aquatic invertebrates: concerns, challenges and conundrums

“…Bryozoan reefs are well developed on the New Zealand shelf where they can extend to several hundred square kilometres in area (Wood et al ., ). Other significant biogenic reefs constructed by marine invertebrates include those of tubicolous polychaetes (Serpulidae, Moore et al ., ; Sabellariidae, Desroy et al ., ; Terebellidae, Rabaut et al ., ), and of bivalve molluscs (Mytilidae, Dinesen and Morton, ; Limidae, Trigg et al ., ; Ostreidae, Cranfield et al ., ).…”

Impacts of sea star predation on mussel bed restoration

“…The habitats created by bioengineering species such as mussels and oysters are an important component of many coastal environments around the world. They provide a number of ecosystem services and functions, including the exchange of nutrients between the water column and the benthic environment as well as the support of abundant and diverse communities of organisms (Hall‐Spencer & Moore ; Meyer & Townsend ; Coen et al ; Commito et al ; Trigg et al ; McLeod et al ). Despite their importance, much of this habitat has been degraded or lost, due to anthropogenic disturbances (de Jonge et al ; Rothschild et al ; Service & Magorrian ; Cranfield et al ).…”

Molecular Phylogeny and Morphological Distinctions of Two Popular Bivalves,Ctenoides scaberandCtenoides mitis

“…For example, a diverse spectrum of visual abilities can be found in the family, ranging from eyeless (Limaria) to pit eyes (Lima) to closedlens eyes (Ctenoides) [29][30][31]. Members of the family also show distinct defense mechanisms, including nest-building behavior [20], swimming, tentacle autotomy [14,18,20,21], and, potentially, defensive chemicals [30]. The evolution of these traits cannot be addressed without a comprehensive phylogeny.…”

“…They are well-known to SCUBA divers [9] and shell collectors, and several charismatic species are routinely collected for the aquarium trade [10]. Numerous studies have been conducted on their behavior [11][12][13][14][15][16], morphology [17][18][19], habitat [20][21][22], reproduction [23,24], physiology [25], and vision [26][27][28][29][30][31]. However, systematics studies have only been done on a small number of species in this family [10,19,[32][33][34][35].…”

Conservation of aquatic invertebrates: concerns, challenges and conundrums

“…Bryozoan reefs are well developed on the New Zealand shelf where they can extend to several hundred square kilometres in area (Wood et al ., ). Other significant biogenic reefs constructed by marine invertebrates include those of tubicolous polychaetes (Serpulidae, Moore et al ., ; Sabellariidae, Desroy et al ., ; Terebellidae, Rabaut et al ., ), and of bivalve molluscs (Mytilidae, Dinesen and Morton, ; Limidae, Trigg et al ., ; Ostreidae, Cranfield et al ., ).…”

Impacts of sea star predation on mussel bed restoration

“…The habitats created by bioengineering species such as mussels and oysters are an important component of many coastal environments around the world. They provide a number of ecosystem services and functions, including the exchange of nutrients between the water column and the benthic environment as well as the support of abundant and diverse communities of organisms (Hall‐Spencer & Moore ; Meyer & Townsend ; Coen et al ; Commito et al ; Trigg et al ; McLeod et al ). Despite their importance, much of this habitat has been degraded or lost, due to anthropogenic disturbances (de Jonge et al ; Rothschild et al ; Service & Magorrian ; Cranfield et al ).…”