Effect of substrate particle size on burrowing of the juvenile freshwater pearl mussel Margaritifera margaritifera

Hyvärinen, Heini; Saarinen-Valta, Mari; Mäenpää, Eero; Taskinen, Jouni

doi:10.1007/s10750-021-04522-z

Cited by 9 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 58 publications

(96 reference statements)

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“…However, the tightness of the small grain size substrate will cause the shear strength of the substrate to increase, which has a negative impact on the burrowing of shellfish [ 3 , 42 ]. However, the present study found that the burrowing time of M. meretrix in fine sand with a higher shear strength was the shortest, which may be because M. meretrix ’s burrowing was carried out using both morphological and behavioral effects [ 43 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, in the natural environment, less fertile M. meretrix are more likely to exhibit mobile behavior, as a poor nutritional status means that the current habitat may lack food, or have a high predation pressure, unsuitable temperature, or salinity, and they need to migrate to find more suitable habitat [ 54 ]. Therefore, the movement behavior of M. meretrix can be regarded as an effective survival strategy for individuals under external environmental stress, and movement behavior can help them to avoid the harsh survival environment and to meet the survival needs of their different life stages [ 15 , 42 ]. In this study, M. meretrix showed a high percentage of movement in coarse sandy substrate, which may mean that coarse sandy substrate is not a suitable habitat for M. meretrix .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Influences of Substrate Grain Size on the Burrowing Behavior of Juvenile Meretrix meretrix

Xue

Fang

et al. 2022

Animals

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The substrate is the key environmental factor that affects the growth, survival, population and distribution of dwelling mollusks in mudflat settings. To clarify the effect of the substrate grain size on soft substrate preference, burrowing ability and behavior during the selection process of juvenile Meretrix meretrix, four different grain size substrates (coarse sand, medium sand, fine sand, and natural substrate) were set up for comparison. The results indicated that: (1) the burrowing ability of juvenile specimens in fine sand was the strongest; (2) the degree (from high to low) of the juvenile’s preference for the four substrates was in the order of fine sand > natural substrate > medium sand > coarse sand; and (3) the selection process of the substrate by the juveniles could be divided into four stages: preparation, selection, burrowing and end stages. These stages showed the behavioral characteristics of a longer selection time and higher percentage of movement in coarse sand. Therefore, our results demonstrated that sea areas or ponds with fine sand as the main component are more suitable for stock enhancement with M. meretrix. These results provide basic data for habitat selection and suitability evaluations for the aquaculture of M. meretrix.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influences of Substrate Grain Size on the Burrowing Behavior of Juvenile Meretrix meretrix

Xue

Fang

et al. 2022

Animals

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“…Finer substrates, such as silt, may contain more organic matter as a food source for filter-feeding mussels (Lara & Parada, 2009), although silt is also considered to be detrimental to feeding and respiratory activity in mussels (Roper & Hickey, 1995;Brim Box & Mossa, 1999). A more likely explanation for a preference for finer substrates may be that they enhance burrowing efficiency (Lewis & Riebel, 1984;Morales et al, 2006;Poznańska-Kakareko et al, 2021; although see Hyvärinen et al, 2021 for a contrary finding with juvenile mussels). Burrowing may provide protection against drought (Amyot & Downing, 1997;Gough et al, 2012), which would be an important adaptation in regions with non-perennial rivers, such as south-western Australia, where river drying is a regular annual occurrence.…”

Section: Habitat Preferencementioning

confidence: 99%

Population structure and microhabitat preference of a threatened freshwater mussel, Westralunio carteri, in south-western Australia

Beatty

Morgan

et al. 2022

Hydrobiologia

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Freshwater mussels are important functional components of aquatic ecosystems. Westralunio carteri is a threatened freshwater mussel species, endemic to south-western Australia, which has suffered a recent, dramatic decline in range. The density, size structure and distribution of adult mussels of this species within river reaches were investigated using quadrat searches and modelled against a range of microhabitat factors. Mussels were found from 26 sites in 14 different rivers at a mean density of 28.4 ± 2.3 individuals m−2. The distribution of W. carteri was highly aggregated within river reaches. The most important factors explaining mussel distribution were substrate grain size, substrate debris and distance from the riverbank, with finer substrate, the presence of woody debris and proximity to the riverbank associated with greater abundance of mussels. In all rivers where mussels were found, most populations appeared to be actively recruiting. However, no mussels were found in six sites, despite them having been recorded as present within the last 20 years, which suggests that the range of the species is still in decline. The identification of microhabitat requirements for W. carteri will assist in identifying suitable release sites for translocation and/or captive propagation, which may be required to prevent extinction of the species.

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“…Conditions that are near anoxic have caused acute mortality in juvenile unionids (Dimock & Wright, 1993), and Bílý et al (2020) observed that decreased dissolved oxygen within the test substrate was associated with a low survival rate of juvenile FPMs. In addition, fine substrate—which leads to low dissolved oxygen conditions (reviewed by Ryan, 1991)—has been associated both with low recruitment of FPMs (Geist & Auerswald, 2007) and surfacing behaviour in juvenile FPMs (Hyvärinen et al, 2021). Thus, both correlative evidence from field studies and the results of laboratory experiments indicate that juvenile freshwater mussels are sensitive to low dissolved oxygen, but to our knowledge the effect of low oxygen concentration on the survival or viability of FPM juveniles has not been studied experimentally.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of low dissolved oxygen on the viability of juvenile Margaritifera margaritifera: Hypoxia tolerance ex situ

Hyvärinen

Sjönberg

Marjomäki

et al. 2022

Aquatic Conservation

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The decline of endangered freshwater pearl mussel (FPM, Margaritifera margaritifera) has been attributed to juvenile mortality caused by low concentrations of dissolved oxygen in the stream substrate resulting from fine sediments (siltation) that impede water exchange in the interstitial microhabitat of juveniles. If low oxygen concentration causes recruitment failure of FPMs, knowledge on the oxygen tolerance of juvenile FPMs is essential for the conservation of the species, as it will justify conservation efforts improving water exchange in the bottom gravel. However, the tolerance of low oxygen of FPM juveniles has not been directly studied. Juvenile FPMs (9–11 months old) were exposed in individual chambers equipped with optical oxygen measurement spots to different levels of dissolved oxygen at 19 °C and their viability was monitored for 10 days to assess the acute oxygen tolerance of juvenile FPMs. Oxygen concentration ranged between 8.8 and 6.2 mg L−1 in the high oxygen treatment (control), 5.0–0.4 mg L−1 in the medium treatment, and 1.3–0.04 mg L−1 in the low oxygen treatment (near‐anoxic conditions). Viability of juvenile FPMs depended on the concentration of available dissolved oxygen, such that all juveniles exposed to near‐anoxic conditions were classified as non‐viable, whereas all mussels exposed to high and medium concentrations were viable at the end of the 10 day experiment. Juveniles differed in their ability to tolerate near‐anoxic conditions, so that some individuals survived only 1 day and others survived up to 9 days. This study provides the first direct experimental evidence on the oxygen sensitivity of FPM juveniles and suggests that >10‐day events of very low dissolved oxygen at summer temperatures are fatal to juvenile FPMs, supporting the view that actions preventing low oxygen episodes in the substrate are essential for recruitment, and conservation, of FPMs.

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Effect of substrate particle size on burrowing of the juvenile freshwater pearl mussel Margaritifera margaritifera

Cited by 9 publications

References 58 publications

Influences of Substrate Grain Size on the Burrowing Behavior of Juvenile Meretrix meretrix

Influences of Substrate Grain Size on the Burrowing Behavior of Juvenile Meretrix meretrix

Population structure and microhabitat preference of a threatened freshwater mussel, Westralunio carteri, in south-western Australia

Effect of low dissolved oxygen on the viability of juvenile Margaritifera margaritifera: Hypoxia tolerance ex situ

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