Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Algal flux affects the clearance rates of recently metamorphosed freshwater mussels

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Aquatic Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Despite their role as ecosystem engineers, which is in large part a consequence of their suspension feeding activities, the early life history of unionid mussels is not well understood. We examined the suspension feeding rates (i.e., clearance rates, CR) of recently metamorphosed juvenile Lampsilis siliquoidea (1–4 week old), Lampsilis fasciola (1–3 week old), Villosa iris (2 week old), and Ligumia nasuta (1 week old) under ecologically relevant flux conditions in a recirculating racetrack flow chamber system. The range of velocities examined was determined experimentally using a permeameter containing riverbed material (63 μm to 6.5 cm diameter) in which juvenile mussels are thought to reside. The CR of the juvenile unionid species increased linearly with algal flux and the ranking of CR among species was V. iris > L. siliquoidea > L. nasuta > L. fasciola. CR also increased with the age (or size) of the mussel cohort but within a species CR increased non-linearly with shell length of the individual. These results provide new insight into the feeding abilities of recently metamorphosed juvenile mussels as well as potential threats to their growth and survival, which contributes to our understanding of their habitat requirements and may assist in the conservation of this imperiled taxon.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ackerman JD (1999) Effect of velocity on the filter feeding of dressenid mussels (Dreissena polymorpha and Dreissena bugensis): implications for trophic dynamics. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 56:1551–1561

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ackerman JD, Nishizaki MT (2004) The effect of velocity on the suspension feeding and growth of the marine mussels Mytilus trossulus and M. californianus: implications for niche separation. J Mar Syst 49:195–207

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ackerman JD, Sim B, Nichols SJ, Claudi R (1994) A review of the early life history of the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha): comparisons with marine bivalves. Can J Zool 72:1169–1179

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ackerman JD, Loewen MR, Hamblin PF (2001) Benthic-pelagic coupling over a zebra mussel bed in the western basin of Lake Erie. Limnol Oceanogr 46:892–904

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arribas LP, Donnarumma L, Palomo MG, Scrosati RA (2014) Intertidal mussels as ecosystem engineers: their associated invertebrate biodiversity under contrasting wave exposures. Mar Biodivers 44:203–211

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Atkinson CL, Vaughn CC, Forshay KJ, Cooper JT (2013) Aggregated filter-feeding consumers alter nutrient limitation: consequences for ecosystem and community dynamics. Ecology 94:1359–1369

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Boulton AJ, Findlay J, Marmonier P, Stanley EH, Valett HM (1998) The functional significance of the hyporheic zone in streams and rivers. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 29:59–81

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Box JB, Mossa J (1999) Sediment, land use, and freshwater mussels: prospects and problems. J N Am Benthol Soc 18:99–117

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cahalan JA, Siddall SE, Luckenbach MW (1989) Effects of flow velocity, food concentration and particle flux on growth rates of juvenile bay scallops Argopecten irradians. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 129:45–60

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coughlan J (1969) The estimation of filtering rate from the clearance of suspensions. Mar Biol 2:356–358

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Daniel ED (1994) State-of-the-art: laboratory hydraulic conductivity tests for saturated soils, pp 30–78. In: Daniel ED, SJ Trautwein (eds) Hydraulic conductivity and waste contaminant transport in soil. ASTM STP1142, p 611

  • Dionisio Pires LM, Jonker RR, Van Donk E, Laanbroek HJ (2004) Selective grazing by adults and larvae of the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha): application of flow cytometry to natural seston. Freshw Biol 49:116–126

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Doroudi MS, Southgate PC, Lucas JS (2003) Variation in clearance and ingestion rates by larvae of the black-lip pearl oyster (Pinctada margaritifera, L.) feeding on various microalgae. Aquac Nutr 9:11–16

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eybe T, Thielen F, Bohn T, Sures B (2015) Influence of the excystment time on the breeding success of juvenile freshwater pearl mussels (Margaritifera margaritafera). Aquat Conserv Mar Freshw Ecosyst 25:21–30

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • French SK, Ackerman JD (2014) Responses of newly settled juvenile mussels to bed shear stress: implications for dispersal. Freshw Sci 33:46–55

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gallager SM, Waterbury JB, Stoecker DK (1994) Efficient grazing and utilization of the marine cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. by larvae of the bivalve Mercenaria mercenaria. Mar Biol 119:251–259

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gatenby CM, Neves RJ, Parker BC (1996) Influence of sediment and algal food on cultured juvenile freshwater mussels. J N Am Benthol Soc 15:597–609

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gatenby CM, Parker BC, Neves RJ (1997) Growth and survival of juvenile rainbow mussels, Villosa iris (Lea, 1892) (Bivalvia: Unionidae), reared on algal diets and sediment. Am Malacol Bull 14:57–66

    Google Scholar 

  • Ghodrati M, Chendorain M, Chang YJ (1999) Characterization of macropore flow mechanisms in soil by means of a split macropore column. Soil Sci Soc Am J 63:1093–1101

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gibbins C, Vericat D, Batalla RJ (2007) When is stream invertebrate drift catastrophic? The role of hydraulics and sediment transport in initiating drift during flood events. Freshw Biol 52:2369–2384

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haag WH (2012) North American freshwater mussels: natural history, ecology and conservation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, p 505

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Haag WR, Williams JD (2014) Biodiversity on the brink: an assessment of conservation strategies for North American freshwater mussels. Hydrobiol 735:45–60

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hastie LC, Boon PJ, Young MR (2000) Physical microhabitat requirements of freshwater pearl mussel (Margaritifera margaritifera). Hydrobiol 429:59–71

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Howard JK, Cuffey KM (2006) The functional role of native freshwater mussels in the fluvial benthic environment. Freshw Biol 51:460–474

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hua D, Neves RJ, Jiao Y (2013) Effects of algal density, water flow and substrate type on culturing juveniles of the rainbow mussel (Villosa iris) (Bivalvia: Unionidae) in a laboratory recirculating system. Aquaculture 416:367–373

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hudon C (2000) Phytoplankton assemblages in the St. Lawrence River, downstream of its confluence with the Ottawa River, Quebec, Canada. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 57:16–30

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jones HD, Richards OG, Hutchinson S (1990) The role of ctenidial abfrontal cilia in the water pumping in Mytilus edulis L. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 143:15–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones CG, Lawton JH, Shachak M (1994) Organisms as ecosystem engineers. Oikos 69:373–386

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jørgensen CB (1996) Bivalve filter feeding revisited. Mar Ecol Progr Ser 142:287–302

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kalbus E, Reinstorf F, Schirmer M (2006) Measuring methods for groundwater–surface water interactions: a review. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci Dis 10:873–887

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McNichols KA, Mackie GL, Ackerman JD (2011) Host fish quality may explain the status of endangered Epioblasma torulosa rangiana and Lampsilis fasciola (Bivalvia: Unionidae) in Canada. J N Am Benthol Soc 30:60–70

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Metcalfe-Smith J, MacKenzie A, Carmichael I, McGoldrick D (2005) Photo field guide to the freshwater mussels of Ontario. St. Thomas Field Naturalists Club, St. Thomas

    Google Scholar 

  • Mistry R (2015) Suspension feeding of juvenile and adult freshwater mussels (Bivalvia: Unionidae) under flowing conditions. M.Sc. thesis, University of Guelph

  • Newton TJ, Allran JW, O’Donnell JA, Bartsch MR, Richardson WB (2003) Effects of ammonia on juvenile unionid mussels (Lampsilis cardium) in laboratory sediment toxicity tests. Environ Toxicol Chem 22:2554–2560

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nichols SJ, Garling DL (2000) Food-web dynamics and trophic-level interactions in a multispecies community of freshwater unionids. Can J Zool 78:871–882

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pérez-Camacho A, Beiras R, Albentosa M (1994) Effects of algal food concentration and body size on the ingestion rates of Ruditapes decussatus (Bivalvia) veliger larvae. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 115:87–92

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peterson EL (1999) Benthic shear stress and sediment condition. Aquac Eng 21:85–111

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Riisgård HU (1988) Feeding rates in hard clam (Mercenaria mercenaria) veliger larvae as a function of algal (Isochrysis galbana) concentration. J Shellfish Res 7:377–380

    Google Scholar 

  • Riisgård HU, Randløv A, Kristensen PS (1980) Rates of water processing oxygen consumption and efficiency of particle retention in veligers and young postmetamorphic Mytilus edulis. Ophelia 19:37–47

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schwalb AN, Morris TJ, Cottenie K (2015) Dispersal abilities of riverine freshwater mussels influence metacommunity structure. Freshw Biol 60:911–921

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seydell I, Ibisch RB, Zanke UCE (2009) Intrusion of suspended sediments into gravel riverbeds: influence of bed topography studied by means of field and laboratory experiments. Adv Limnol 61:67–85

    Google Scholar 

  • Silverman H, Nichols SJ, Cherry JS, Achberger E, Lynn JW, Dietz TH (1997) Clearance of laboratory-cultured bacteria by freshwater bivalves differences between lentic and lotic unionids. Can J Zool 75:1857–1866

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spooner DE, Vaughn CC (2006) Context-dependent effects of freshwater mussels on stream benthic communities. Freshw Biol 51:1016–1024

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Strayer DL (2008) Freshwater mussel ecology: a multifactor approach to distribution and abundance. University of California Press, Berkeley, p 204

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Strayer DL (2014) Understanding how nutrient cycles and freshwater mussels (Unionidae) affect one another. Hydrobiol 735:277–292

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • vanden Byllaardt J, Ackerman JD (2014) Hydrodynamic habitat influences benthic suspension feeding in freshwater ecosystems. Freshw Biol 59:1187–1196

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vannote RL, Minshall GW, Cummins KW, Sedell JR, Cushing CE (1980) The river continuum concept. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 37:130–137

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vaughn CC, Nichols SJ, Spooner DE (2008) Community and foodweb ecology of freshwater mussels. J N Am Benthol Soc 27:409–423

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang N, Ingersoll CG, Greer IE, Hardesty DK, Ivey CD, Kunz JL, Brumbaugh WG, Dwyer FJ, Roberts AD, Augspurger T, Kane CM, Neves RJ, Barnhart MC (2007) Chronic toxicity of copper and ammonia to juvenile freshwater mussels (unionidae). Environ Toxicol Chem 26:2048–2056

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Water Office (2015) Real time hydrometric data. https://wateroffice.ec.gc.ca

  • Watters GT (2000) Freshwater mussels and water quality: a review of the effects of hydrologic and instream habitat alterations, pp 261–274. In: Proc. First Int. Freshwat. Mollusc Conserv. Soc. Symp. 1999. Ohio Biological Survey

  • Wildish DH, Kristmanson D (1997) Benthic suspension feeders and flow. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, p 409

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Williams JD, Warren ML, Cummings KS, Harris JL, Neves RJ (1993) Conservation status of freshwater mussels of the United States and Canada. Fisheries 18:6–22

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Species at Risk Public Registry (2015) Recovery strategy. http://www.registrelep-sararegistry.gc.ca/sar/recovery/recovery_e.cfm

  • Yeager MM, Cherry DS, Neves RJ (1994) Feeding and burrowing behaviours of juvenile mussels, Villosa iris (Bivalvia: Unionidae). J N Am Benthol Soc 13:217–222

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful for the support provided by Dr. Colette Mesher, Dr. Mike Nishizaki, Dr. Roger Beckie, Shaylah Tuttle-Raycraft and the research assistants of the Ackerman lab, Matt Cornish and Mike Davies in the Hagen Aqualab, and Steve Wilson in the Physics Workshop. Funding for this research was provided by grants from the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (Species at Risk Research Fund Ontario and Species at Risk Stewardship Fund), Fisheries and Oceans Canada (SARCEP), and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (Discovery) to JDA.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1, Canada

    Rakesh Mistry & Josef D. Ackerman

Authors
  1. Rakesh Mistry
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Josef D. Ackerman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Josef D. Ackerman.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Mistry, R., Ackerman, J.D. Algal flux affects the clearance rates of recently metamorphosed freshwater mussels. Aquat Sci 79, 139–148 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00027-016-0485-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00027-016-0485-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation