Tidal micro-growth bands in intertidal gastropod shells, with an evaluation of band-dating techniques

1982 ◽  
Vol 214 (1196) ◽  
pp. 305-323 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Reliable Method ◽  
Sea Water ◽  
Shell Growth ◽  
Littorina Littorea ◽  
Nucella Lapillus ◽  
Surface Check ◽  
Growth Bands ◽  
Intertidal Gastropod ◽  
Shell Deposition ◽  
Made In

Four methods were used in dating micro-growth bands in the intertidal gastropods Littorina littorea, Patella vulgata and Nucella lapillus. One of the methods employed, immersion in 2.25 x 10 -4 M acetazolamide, was always successful in producing a stress band by inhibiting shell growth, but in Littorina littorea and Nucella lapillus the inhibition persisted for several days after treatment and reduced the number of bands subse­quently laid down. A surface check mark associated with an internal stress band could be made in a percentage of all three species if they were kept at 3°C for 3–4 days. However, this treatment was damaging to Nucella lapillus . The most reliable method for dating the bands without appreciably interrupting subsequent shell deposition was to remove mechanically a thin layer from the outer lip of the shell or to keep the animals in sea water with ample food for 36 h to produce an abnormally wide shell increment. When the last two methods were used and the number of bands from the check band to the growing edge were counted in peels of sectioned and etched shells, the number agreed within 1% with the number of low waters that the animals had experienced.

Precise Temporal Correlation of Holocene Mollusk Shells Using Sclerochronology

2000 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 236-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas M. Marchitto ◽  
Glenn A. Jones ◽  
Glenn A. Goodfriend ◽  
Christopher R. Weidman
Keyword(s):  
Shell Growth ◽  
Morphological Characteristics ◽  
Temporal Correlation ◽  
Band Width ◽  
Georges Bank ◽  
Arctica Islandica ◽  
Mollusk Shells ◽  
Aspartic Acid Racemization ◽  
Geochemical Proxies ◽  
Growth Bands

AbstractAnnual growth bands of mollusk shells record several types of paleoenvironmental information, including geochemical proxies for water properties and morphological characteristics of growth and mortality. Sclerochronology, the marine counterpart of dendrochronology, offers a way to link individual shells together to form long continuous records of such parameters. It also allows for precise dating of recent shells and identification of contemporaneous fossil individuals. The longevity of the ocean quahog Arctica islandica (commonly >100 yr) makes this species well suited for sclerochronology. Band width records of contemporaneous A. islandica specimens from the same region exhibit high correlations (ρ = 0.60–0.80 for spans of ≥30 bands), indicating some common environmental influences on shell growth. By adopting several strict criteria, fossil (dead-collected) shells can be linked into composite sclerochronologies. A seven-shell 154-yr chronology was constructed for Georges Bank using three live-collected and four dead-collected shells. Band width matching indicates that the dead-collected individuals died in A.D. 1950, 1971, 1978, and 1989. Sclerochronological age assignments were verified using aspartic acid racemization dating. Construction of a 1000-yr sclerochronology is judged to be feasible using the described methods.

A massive summer-kill of the dog-whelk, Nucella lapillus, on the north Cornwall coast in 1995: freak or forerunner?

1999 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
P.E. Gibbs ◽  
J.C. Green ◽  
P.L. Pascoe
Keyword(s):  
High Mortality ◽  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Algal Bloom ◽  
Extended Period ◽  
Littorina Littorea ◽  
Nucella Lapillus ◽  
Sewage Outfall ◽  
The North ◽  
Algal Toxicity ◽  
Calm Weather

In the summer of 1995 a massive kill of the dog-whelk, Nucella lapillus, occurred in Bude Bay on the north Cornish coast. High mortality was detectable along 12 km of shoreline. The only other intertidal species affected appeared to be another neogastropod, Ocenebra erinacea. The cause of the kill is unknown but the evidence suggests that it occurred in early July following an extended period of warm, calm weather in June. Possible causes of this event are discussed: algal toxicity may have been responsible since an algal bloom was detected offshore in July in the area. Laboratory experiments exposing gastropods to different species and concentrations of microalgae, designed to test whether N. lapillus is more sensitive than Monodonta lineata and Littorina littorea, gave inconclusive results. No comparable kill has occurred in the Bude area for at least 20 y, but it is suggested that nutrients from a newly-constructed, offshore sewage outfall may now stimulate local algal bloom development during calm weather periods.

scholarly journals Bivalves rapidly repair shells damaged by fatigue and bolster strength

2021 ◽  
Vol 224 (19) ◽  
Author(s):  
R. L. Crane ◽  
J. L. Diaz Reyes ◽  
M. W. Denny
Keyword(s):  
Shell Growth ◽  
Fatigue Loading ◽  
Epifluorescence Microscopy ◽  
Mytilus Californianus ◽  
Environmental Threats ◽  
Rapid Repair ◽  
Shell Deposition ◽  
Repetitive Loading ◽  
Plastic Changes ◽  
Mussel Shells

ABSTRACT Hard external armors have to defend against a lifetime of threats yet are traditionally understood by their ability to withstand a single attack. Survival of bivalve mollusks thus can depend on the ability to repair shell damage between encounters. We studied the capacity for repair in the intertidal mussel Mytilus californianus by compressing live mussels for 15 cycles at ∼79% of their predicted strength (critically fracturing 46% of shells), then allowing the survivors 0, 1, 2 or 4 weeks to repair. Immediately after fatigue loading, mussel shells were 20% weaker than control shells that had not experienced repetitive loading. However, mussels restored full shell strength within 1 week, and after 4 weeks shells that had experienced greater fatiguing forces were stronger than those repetitively loaded at lower forces. Microscopy supported the hypothesis that crack propagation is a mechanism of fatigue-caused weakening. However, the mechanism of repair was only partially explained, as epifluorescence microscopy of calcein staining for shell deposition showed that only half of the mussels that experienced repetitive loading had initiated direct repair via shell growth around fractures. Our findings document repair weeks to months faster than demonstrated in other mollusks. This rapid repair may be important for the mussels’ success contending with predatory and environmental threats in the harsh environment of wave-swept rocky coasts, allowing them to address non-critical but weakening damage and to initiate plastic changes to shell strength. We highlight the significant insight gained by studying biological armors not as static structures but, instead, as dynamic systems that accumulate, repair and respond to damage.

scholarly journals III. On the determination, at sea, of the specific gravity of sea-water

1875 ◽  
Vol 23 (156-163) ◽  
pp. 301-308 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Specific Gravity ◽  
Physical Condition ◽  
Sea Water ◽  
Accurate Determination ◽  
Actual Difference ◽  
Made In

In the investigation of the physical condition of the ocean the accurate determination of the specific gravity of the water holds a first place. The tolerably numerous observations which have been made in this direction, in a more or less connected manner, are sufficient to prove that the density of the water varies, not only with the latitude and longitude, but also with the distance from the surface of the source from which it is taken. This difference of density depends partly on an actual difference in saltness, and partly on a difference in temperature of the water.

Testing hypotheses concerning the formation of shell growth marks in marine pelecypods

1991 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
pp. 535-546 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edwin Bourget ◽  
Hélène Bérard ◽  
Vibeke Brock
Keyword(s):  
Shell Growth ◽  
Growth Accounting ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Tidal Period ◽  
Growth Increments ◽  
Potential Sources ◽  
Sources Of Variation ◽  
Shell Deposition ◽  
The Individual ◽  
External Growth

This paper reviews the evidence supporting the current hypotheses (daily, tidal, endogenous, and other rhythms of growth) accounting for short-term periodicity in the formation of marks (external growth ridges and internal growth increments) on the shell of marine pelecypod molluscs. With few exceptions our analysis shows too much unexplained variability and the availability of too few studies of potential sources of variation for the proposed cycles of mark formation (circadian, circatidal) to be accepted. Since shell deposition takes the form of marks, which must be discrete in frequency (0, 1, or 2 per given day or tidal period), we submit that individual frequencies must be used to test hypotheses concerning the rhythms of shell growth mark formation, and we propose the use of three criteria: (i) that departure of the individual measured frequency from the expected frequency should not be more than the maximal error in measurements (maximal counting errors made by the observer); (ii) should condition one be violated, then the so-called "missing" or "superfluous" marks should be clearly accounted for; (iii) that potential sources of variation (e.g., age, habitat, locality, season) should not significantly influence the frequency of formation of the marks.

On F2Echinus Hybrids

1914 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 464-465 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. M. Fuchs
Keyword(s):  
Second Generation ◽  
Sea Water ◽  
Hybrid Generation ◽  
Marine Biological Laboratory ◽  
Marine Biological ◽  
Biological Laboratory ◽  
The Cross ◽  
One Year ◽  
Sexually Mature ◽  
Made In

An investigation on inheritance in hybrids between the three English species of Echinus was carried out in the Marine Biological Laboratory, Plymouth, during 1909–1912 by C. Shearer, W. de Morgan, and H. M. Fuchs. In a paper published in the Phil. Trans. Royal Soo., Ser. B, Vol. CCIV., p. 255, the results of this work were described in detail. At the time of publication, E. miliaris had been raised from the egg to maturity in the laboratory, in the course of one year, and a second generation had been obtained from these individuals, but none of the hybrid urchins had as yet reached maturity. This year, however, some of the hybrids have become sexually mature, and from them a second hybrid generation has been raised.The urchins which have formed ripe genital products are four individuals of the cross E. esculentus X E. acutus (referred to below as EA) derived from fertilizations made in 1912. The largest of these urchins now measures 6 cm. in diameter, exclusive of the spines. On May 11th, 1914, two of these hybrids laid eggs in the tank in which they were kept. Naturally these eggs could not be used for experimental purposes, since they were deposited in the sea water of the aquarium circulation, and therefore not under sterile conditions. On June 6th I induced three of the four to deposit genital products without cutting them open, under conditions which excluded the possible presence of foreign eggs or spermatozoa. It is hardly necessary to mention here that, as in all the previous work on Echinus hybrids, the fact of the complete absence of such sperm was made certain by controls of unfertilized eggs, none of which segmented.

The distribution of metacercariae of Maritrema arenaria (Digenea: Microphallidae) in the barnacle Balanus balanoides at three sites on the east coast of Northern Ireland

1980 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
pp. 959-962 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. W. B. Irwin ◽  
B. C. Irwin
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
East Coast ◽  
Littorina Littorea ◽  
British Isles ◽  
Littorina Saxatilis ◽  
Nucella Lapillus ◽  
Detailed Survey ◽  
Marked Preference ◽  
Balanus Balanoides

Overall incidence of metacercariae of Maritrema arenaria differed substantially at each of the three sites investigated. In each case, however, numbers were higher than those previously observed in the British Isles. Results indicate that gulls rather than waders are the more important final hosts of this parasite in the areas investigated. At one site where a more detailed survey was carried out metacercariae were more abundant on the upper half of the shore and they displayed a marked preference for barnacles on living Littorina littorea shells as compared to barnacles on rocks. Evidence would suggest that the two most likely molluscan hosts of this trematode are Littorina saxatilis and Nucella lapillus.

Crawling and Respiration as Indices of Sublethal Effects of Oil and a Dispersant on an Intertidal Snail Littorina littorea

1973 ◽  
Vol 30 (12) ◽  
pp. 1789-1792 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. T. Hargrave ◽  
C. P. Newcombe
Keyword(s):  
Sublethal Effects ◽  
Sea Water ◽  
Littorina Littorea ◽  
Behavioral Traits ◽  
Respiration Rates ◽  
Physiological Indices ◽  
Low Toxicity ◽  
Intertidal Snail

Crawling and respiration rates of the snail Littorina littorea are increased in the presence of Bunker C oil and decreased with brief exposure to a low toxicity dispersant (Corexit 8666) in sea water at 20 C. The addition of the dispersant to an oil:seawater mixture also decreases both crawling and respiration. Behavioral traits, such as crawling, and physiological indices, such as respiration, may be sensitive measures of sublethal effects of pollutants on organisms.

A Comparison of the Effectiveness of Tri-N-Butyltin Chloride and Five other Organotin Compounds in Promoting the Development of Imposex in the Dog-Whelk, Nucella Lapillus

1988 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 733-744 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. W. Bryan ◽  
P. E. Gibbs ◽  
G. R. Burt
Keyword(s):  
Vas Deferens ◽  
Sea Water ◽  
Water Concentration ◽  
Conclusive Evidence ◽  
Genital Papilla ◽  
Rocky Shores ◽  
Nucella Lapillus ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Penis Size ◽  
Nassarius Obsoletus

Populations of the common dog-whelk Nucella lapillus (L.) are declining or have already disappeared at many sites on rocky shores around the United Kingdom (Bryan et al. 1986). There is conclusive evidence that this is caused mainly by tributyltin (TBT) compounds leached from ships' antifouling paints (Bryan et al. 1987). These compounds impose male sexual characters (or imposex) on female N. lapillus. Other stenoglossan gastropods including Nassarius obsoletus Say (Smith, 1981a) and Ocenebra erinacea (L.) (Féral & Gall, 1982) are similarly affected by TBT. The intensity of expression of imposex in N. lapillus can generally be related to the sea water concentration of TBT. The appearance of a small penis and the partial development of a vas deferens first occurs at TBT concentrations below 0.5 ng/1 (as tin), although reproduction appears to be unaffected at this level. At 1–2 ng Sn/1 penis size is markedly increased and in some females proliferation of vas deferens tissue overgrows the genital papilla, thus sterilizing the animal. At slightly higher concentrations virtually all females become sterilized and at around 10 ng Sn/1 oogenesis is suppressed and spermatogenesis initiated (Gibbs, Pascoe & Burt, 1988). Since development is direct and there is no planktonic stage, N. lapillus has a very limited capacity for dispersion: thus the sterilization of females heralds the almost certain decline of so affected populations (Gibbs & Bryan, 1986).

scholarly journals Oxygen Isotope Variability within Nautilus Shell Growth Bands

PLoS ONE ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. e0153890 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin J. Linzmeier ◽  
Reinhard Kozdon ◽  
Shanan E. Peters ◽  
John W. Valley
Keyword(s):  
Oxygen Isotope ◽  
Shell Growth ◽  
Growth Bands
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