The Role of Copper in the Setting, Metamorphosis, and Distribution of the American Oyster, Ostrea virginica

Competence and delay of metamorphosis in the Pacific oysterCrassostrea gigas

“…This indicates that induction of settlement behavior alone is not sufficient to stimulate oyster larvae to subsequently metamorphose. Others have observed that oyster larvae, like other invertebrate larvae, may resume normal swimming and reinitiate settlement behavior at another location after crawling on a substrate (Prytherch 1934, Cranfield 1973. Presumably, some secondary cue(s) associated with the substrate are required for attachment and metamorphosis and the larvae are not yet competent to respond to these secondary cues.…”

The Fauna of Oyster Beds, with Special Reference to the Salinity Factor

“…Where much lower salinities prevail (i.e., 14 to 20 0/00), small beds of oysters may occur in deep water (Galtsoff & Prytherch 1927). Galtsoff & Prytherch (1927) and Menzel (1955) have attributed this distribution to the selection of this particular zone by oyster larvae, and their behavior was credited to their stimulation by minute amounts of copper in the uppermost strata of water (Prytherch 1934). This predominantly intertidal distribution of oysters in high salinity has been attributed to a variety of factors.…”

Notes on the general biology ofTubularia LarynxEllis & Solander

“…Actinula larvae of T. larynx are not capable of withstanding hypotonic conditions for prolonged periods but, although degenerative changes were evident in the mixtures containing smaller proportions of sea water, there was also a tendency for settlement to be accelerated in such solutions (Table II). Grave & Nicoll (1939) have recorded that copper stimulated the attachment of ascidian larvae, and Prytherch (1934) Korringa (1940). A number of rough experiments on the effect of the addition of small amounts of copper and of mercury to sea water on the attachment of actinula larvae were carried out and the results suggest ( Table III) that both of these poisons stimulate attachment to some extent.…”