Assimilation of Cyanobacteria by the Freshwater Bivalve <i>Nodularia douglasiae</i>: Insights from Long-Term Laboratory and Field Feeding Experiments

In this study, we conducted long-term laboratory and field feeding experiments to investigate the ability of a freshwater bivalve, Nodularia douglasiae (recently renamed N. nipponensis) utilize cyanobacterial cells as food. experiment, which was fed with 15N-labeled Microcystis aeruginosa over 80 days showed an assimilation efficiency 47%. The fatty acid compositions in bivalves reflected slight but apparent increase relative ratio two acids, linoleic (LA) α-linolenic (ALA), eicosapentaenoic (EPA). field-feeding natural seston littoral area eutrophic Lake Hachiro (Akita, Japan) during summers 2017 2018 when blooms occurred. ratios LA ALA EPA increased from 0.45 0.70 0.40 0.77 summers; final values were consistent those obtained experiment. results indicated that can food maintain activity at least several months, species may serve useful biomanipulation tool for controlling lakes.