Cryptosporidium and Giardia are of public health importance, with recognized transmission through recreational waters. Therefore, both can contaminate marine waters and shellfish, with potential to infect marine mammals in nearshore ecosystems. A 2-year study was conducted to evaluate the presence of Cryptosporidium and Giardia in mussels located at two distinct coastal areas in California, nam...

Many marine species, including mussels in the Mytilus edulis species group (i.e. M. edulis L., M. galloprovincialis Lamarck, and M. trossulus Gould), have an antitropical distribution pattern, with closely related taxa occurring in high latitudes of the northern and southern hemispheres but being absent from the tropics. We tested four hypotheses to explain the timing and route of transequatori...

Bathymodiolinae are giant mussels that were discovered at hydrothermal vents and harboring chemosynthetic symbionts. Due to their close phylogenetic relationship with seep species and tiny mussels from organic substrates, it was hypothesized that they gradually evolved from shallow to deeper environments, and specialized in decaying organic remains, then in seeps, and finally colonized deep-sea...

The UNH Center for Freshwater Biology investigated a possible relationship between a cyanobacteria bloom and a large-scale die-off of freshwater mussels in Mystic Lake and Middle Pond (Barnstable, MA). Four mussel species, Elliptio complanata (Eastern Elliptio), Pyganodon cataracta (Eastern Floater), Leptodea ochracea (Tidewater Mucket), and Lampsilis radiata (Eastern Lampmussel) (Nedeau, 2008)...

Two field experiments were carried out to investigate the effects of mussels (Mytilus edulis) on fauna and on sediment characteristics. In the first experiment mussels were removed from within an established mussel bed to create bare patches and in the second experiment mussels were transplanted to an adjacent bare sandflat. In the mussel removal experiment, mobile epibenthic crustaceans (predo...

Concentrations of persistent organic pollutants including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), organochlorine (OC) pesticides and dioxin-like compounds were measured in green-lipped mussels, Perna viridis, collected from seven mariculture zones in Hong Kong between September and October in 2002 in order to evaluate the status, spatial distribution and potential sources of pollution in these areas....

Environmental gradients play an important role in shaping geographic variability in coastal marine populations. Thus, the ability of organisms to cope with these changes will depend on their potential to acclimatize, or adapt, to these new environmental conditions. We investigated the spatial variability in biological responses shown by Perumytilus purpuratus mussels collected from 2 intertidal...

Induced defenses of prey have become widely recognized in several marine taxa, yet their specificity to particular predators and impacts on subsequent predation are seldom investigated. In this study, Mytilus edulis showed highly specific induced defenses in response to predators with different attack strategies. The mussels developed significantly heavier shells only in the presence of waterbo...

The neurotoxin BMAA (β-N-methylamino-l-alanine) and its isomer DAB (2,4-diaminobutyric acid) have been detected in seafood worldwide, including in Thau lagoon (French Mediterranean Sea). A cluster of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a neurodegenerative disease associated with BMAA, has also been observed in this region. Mussels, periphyton (i.e. biofilms attached to mussels) and plankton we...

Relegated to the benthos, the blue mussel, Mytilus edulis, is confined to consuming resources available in the water above substrates. However, aquaculture manipulates the distribution of mussels and renders the resources of the water column available to mussels. With the identification of mussels as significant consumers of zooplankton, the presence of mussels in the water column suggests aqua...