Hans Ulrik Riisgård

Allometric equations for maximum filtration rate in blue mussels Mytilus edulis and importance of condition index

The relationship between body dry weight (W) and shell length (L) of blue mussels, Mytilus edulis, can be expressed by the condition index (CIxa0=xa0W/L3) which varies from population to population and during the year. Here, we examine the influence of CI on the relationships between maximum filtration rate (F, lxa0h−1), W (g), and L (mm) as described by the equations: FWxa0=xa0aWb and FLxa0=xa0cLd, respectively. This is done by using available and new experimental laboratory data on M. edulis obtained by members of the same research team using different methods and controlled diets of cultivated algal cells. For all data, it was found that FWxa0=xa06.773W0.678 and FLxa0=xa00.00135L2.088 which are very similar to equations for mussels with ‘medium condition’ (CIxa0=xa04–6xa0mgxa0cm−3): FWxa0=xa06.567W0.681 and FLxa0=xa00.00150L2.051, with b- and d-values within a few percent of the theoretically expected of 2/3 and 2, respectively. Further, based on the present data, we propose a correction factor expressed by the empirical relation FW/FLxa0=xa00.3562CI2/3 which implies that FW tends to underestimate the actual filtration rate (FL) when CIxa0<xa04.70 and to overestimate the filtration rate when CIxa0>xa04.70.

Jellyfish and Ctenophores in the Environmentally Degraded Limfjorden (Denmark) During 2014 - Species Composition, Population Densities and Predation Impact

Species composition, population densities and size of jellyfish and ctenophores were recorded during 5 cruises in the heavily eutrophicated Limfjorden in 2014. No or very few ctenophores (Pleurobrachia pileus) and jellyfish (Aurelia aurita, Cyanea lamarckii) were recorded in April and June 2014, whereas in August and September numerous small individuals of the invasive ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi were found on all 4 locations studied, which were strongly reduced in population density during November. M. leidyi exerted a notable predation impact, most pronounced in Logstor Bredning and Skive Fjord in August when the estimated half-lives of zooplankton were 4.8 and 7.3 d, respectively, and in late September, when the half-life in Skive Fjord was only 2.2 d. Severe oxygen depletion in Logstor Bredning and Skive Fjord between June and September resulted in a release of nutrients. This was followed by a bloom of the dinoflagellate Noctiluca scintillans and a subsequent peak in the abundance of copepods which decreased rapidly after the introduction of M. leidyi into Limfjorden from the North Sea (between early April and mid- July) to become virtually absent during the rest of the season. This subsequently resulted in starvation and decay of the M. leidyi population. The small predatory ctenophore Beroe gracilis was recorded on most locations during August and September 2014 but although B. gracilis eats small M. leidyi, their low number suggested a negligible predation impact on the M. leidyi population. Our present understanding of the many biological and environmental factors that control the species composition, abundance and predation impact of jellyfish and ctenophore populations in Limfjorden are discussed. It is concluded that there are many unsolved questions, e.g. how gelatinous predation of zooplankton may reinforce anoxia and further habitat degradation in eutrophicated waters.

Relationship between oxygen concentration, respiration and filtration rate in blue mussel Mytilus edulis

The large water-pumping and particle-capturing gills of the filter-feeding blue mussel Mytilus edulis are oversized for respiratory purposes. Consequently, the oxygen uptake rate of the mussel has been suggested to be rather insensitive to decreasing oxygen concentrations in the ambient water, since the diffusion rate of oxygen from water flowing through the mussel determines oxygen uptake. We tested this hypothesis by measuring the oxygen uptake in mussels exposed to various oxygen concentrations. These concentrations were established via N2-bubbling of the water in a respiration chamber with mussels fed algal cells to stimulate fully opening of the valves. It was found that mussels exposed to oxygen concentrations decreasing from 9 to 2 mg O2/L resulted in a slow but significant reduction in the respiration rate, while the filtration rate remained high and constant. Thus, a decrease of oxygen concentration by 78% only resulted in a 25% decrease in respiration rate. However, at oxygen concentrations below 2 mg O2/L M. edulis responded by gradually closing its valves, resulting in a rapid decrease of filtration rate, concurrent with a rapid reduction of respiration rate. These observations indicated that M. edulis is no longer able to maintain its normal aerobic metabolism at oxygen concentration below 2 mg O2/L, and there seems to be an energy-saving mechanism in bivalve molluscs to strongly reduce their activity when exposed to low oxygen conditions.