Detrital utilization by the polychaete, Capitella capitata

Although organic detritus is an important energy source in marine ecosystems little quantitative data are available on rates of utilization by deposit feeders. A major reason is the difficulty of using isotope tracer techniques due to the release. and recycling of such non-conservative labels as carbon-14 from the detritus during suspension in an aquatic medium...

Growth and Production of the Dwarf Surf Clam Mulinia lateralis (Say 1822) in a Georgia Estuary

The bivalve Mulinia lateralis is a dominant member of estuarine benthos, but its presence and abundance in Georgia estuarine waters is sporadic over time. Recruitment and production was monitored from 1977 through 1981 at three inner and one outer more saline ( \u3e 18 ppt) areas of Wassaw Sound. Until the winter of 1981, Mulinia lateralis was absent or at very low densities. Significant settlement occurred in January 1981 when densities in the outer sound reached as high as 63,000 individuals • m-2). The clam was more abundant in sandy mud (x̄ = 10,161 • m-2) than mud (x̄=277 • m-2) or sand (x̄=263 • m-2).Cohort production varied from 0.3 g dry wt • m-2 • 4 months-1 in the inner sound to 325 g dry wt • m-2 • 7 months-1 in the outer Sound, with the mean biomass ranging from 0.6 to 513 g dry wt • m-2, respectively. When present, Mulinia lateralis contributes significantly to benthic production available to commercially valuable fish and crabs. That this food resource is annually and seasonally episodic could contribute to year-to-year fluctuations in production of species preying on benthos

Polyspecies aquaculture systems: The detrital trophic level

The production of species belonging to the detrital trophic level was investigated in a model-sized aquaculture system, with flowing, filtered seawater and controlled phytoplankton addition to experimental tanks containing the oyster, Crassostrea virginica. The biodeposits of feces and pseudofeces of the oysters supported on the bottom of one tank a population of the nereid polychaete, Nereis virens and in the other tank a mixed community of the capitellid polychaete, Capitella capitata and the amphipod, Corophium sp...

The Relationship of Upwelling to Mussel Production in the Rias on the Western Coast of Spain

We have calculated an upwelling index for each month over a 17-year period (1969-1985) for a point off the western coast of Spain. We interpret April through September values of the index to indicate the flux of nitrate-rich water in the Spanish Rias. The index representing the 6-month upwelling series has been correlated with an index representing the conditions of mussels grown during that season on rafts in Ria de Arosa. Two seasons represent extreme upwelling conditions over the 17-year sampling period: 1977 when the upwelling index was the highest, and 1983 when it was the lowest. A comparison of the condition of mussels during these years showed that meat content was double in 1977. We suggest, by this study, that long range forecasts of synoptic scale weather patterns could be used to predict the potential nutritional value of mussels harvested in the rias of Spain