The influences of different Cd pre-exposure regimes (route, concentration, and duration of Cd exposure) on the bioavailability of Cd, Ag, Hg, and Zn to the green mussels Perna viridis were quantified in this study. Following pre-exposing the mussels to Cd, we measured the mussel's tissue Cd concentration and clearance rate, as well as the metal dietary assimilation efficiency (AE) and the influ...

The age dependence of growth, metabolic rate, the degree of lipid peroxidation and antioxidative defence was studied in 3 different size groups of White Sea (Russia) blue mussels Mytilus edulis L.: small (S, wet tissue weight = 0.23 g, length 20–25 mm), medium (M, wet tissue weight = 0.52 g, length 30–35 mm) and large (L, wet tissue weight = 1.05 g, length 40–50 mm). S group mussels were 2–8 yr...

The polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organotins were analyzed in mussels Mytilus galloprovincialis from polluted and unpolluted sites from Mokpo Bay, Korea. The total PAH's concentrations (10(-3)mgkg(-1)) measured by GC-MS were in the range from 31+/-23 to 1+/-1. Among the eight PAHs the predominant ones were fluoranthene, phenanthrene and pyrene and...

We examined the seasonal variation in environmentally induced protein damage in natural populations of the intertidal mussel Mytilus trossulus. In order to compare the state of protein pools during seasonal variations in environmental temperature, we used solid-phase immunochemical analysis to quantify ubiquitin conjugate concentrations and relative levels of the stress protein hsp70. The two b...

The objective of the present study was to determine acute toxicity of copper, ammonia, or chlorine to larval (glochidia) and juvenile mussels using the recently published American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) Standard guide for conducting laboratory toxicity tests with freshwater mussels. Toxicity tests were conducted with glochidia (24- to 48-h exposures) and juveniles (96-h exposu...

Freshwater mussels are ecologically and economically important members of many aquatic ecosystems, but are globally among the most imperiled taxa. Propagation techniques for mussels have been developed and used to boost declining and restore extirpated populations. Here we use a cohort of propagated mussels to estimate the intrinsic variability in size and growth rate of Lampsilis siliquoidea (...

Predation can strongly influence community structure and ecosystem function, so the loss of key predators can have dramatic ecological consequences, unless other predatory species in the system are capable of playing similar ecological roles. In light of the recent outbreak of sea star wasting disease (SSWD) and subsequent depletion of west coast sea star populations, including those of the key...

Convoluta convoluta (Abildgaard 1806) is a small (2–3 mm long) acoellous turbellarian flatworm from Europe that has invaded the Gulf of Maine within the last 5 years. Although it has been reported in densities of up to 19 individuals/cm, its ecological impact remains unknown. In its native habitat, it consumes harpacticoid copepods and primary settling mussels < 0.5-mm shell length. This study ...

Hydrothermal vent mussels belonging to the genus Bathymodiolus are distributed worldwide and dominate communities at shallow Atlantic hydrothermal sites. While organisms inhabiting coastal ecosystems are subjected to predictable oscillations of physical and chemical variables owing to tidal cycles, the vent mussels sustain pronounced temperature changes over short periods of time, correlated to...

Distinct gender-associated mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) lineages (i.e., lineages which are transmitted either through males or through females) have been demonstrated in two families of bivalves, the Mytilidae (marine mussels) and the Unionidae (freshwater mussels), which have been separated for more than 400 Myr. The mode of transmission of these M (for male-transmitted) and F (for female-transmi...