Growth dynamics in natural populations of Sphaeriidae clams (Sphaerium, Musculium, Pisidium)

1979 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 441-456 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. L. Mackie

Analyses of life history samples of five species of sphaeriid clams collected at least monthly for 1 year from 10 different habitats show that growth of all larval stages stops when parents cease to grow. During the logarithmic phase of growth larvae grow slower than parents in temporary and permanent pond populations of Musculium lacustre, Pisidium casertanum, and Pisidium variabile, as fast as parents in a river population of Sphaerium fabale, and as fast or faster than parents in five populations of Musculium securis. Species with slow larval growth rates are usually semelparous and univoltine but can be iteroparous by precocious birth of larvae and multivoltine by accelerated growth of semelparous individuals. Species with rapid larval growth rates are usually iteroparous because larvae grow faster than parents and (or) there is precocious birth of larvae. There is greater mortality of larvae during early stages than during later stages of larval development. The greatest numbers of larvae per parent usually occur in early winter and (or) late spring; winter and summer 'kills' often result in small litter sizes.

Author(s):  
R. A. Lutz ◽  
R. Mann ◽  
J. G. Goodsell ◽  
M. Castagna

Mature eggs were stripped from ripe adult specimens of Arctica islandica and exposed to a dilute solution of ammonium hydroxide for various lengths of time before addition of stripped sperm. Larval and early post-larval stages were cultured under experimental laboratory conditions using standard bivalve rearing techniques. Larval cultures were maintained at various controlled temperatures ranging from 8·5 to 14·5 °C. Minimum time to settlement was 32 days at a temperature of approximately 13 °C; at temperatures between 8·5 and 10·0 °C, settlement was not observed until approximately 55 days after fertilization. Larval growth rates were significantly faster at temperatures between 11·0 and 145 °C than at temperatures between 8°C. Morphometry of the larval shell and morphology of the larval hinge apparatus were independent of larval growth rates and experimental culture conditions.


Author(s):  
R. A. Lutz ◽  
R. Mann ◽  
J. G. Goodsell ◽  
M. Castagna

Mature eggs were stripped from ripe adult specimens of Arctica islandica and exposed to a dilute solution of ammonium hydroxide for various lengths of time before addition of stripped sperm. Larval and early post-larval stages were cultured under experimental laboratory conditions using standard bivalve rearing techniques. Larval cultures were maintained at various controlled temperatures ranging from 8·5 to 14·5 °C. Minimum time to settlement was 32 days at a temperature of approximately 13 °C; at temperatures between 8·5 and 10·0 °C, settlement was not observed until approximately 55 days after fertilization. Larval growth rates were significantly faster at temperatures between 11·0 and 145 °C than at temperatures between 8°C. Morphometry of the larval shell and morphology of the larval hinge apparatus were independent of larval growth rates and experimental culture conditions.


2010 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas P. Hurst ◽  
Alisa A. Abookire ◽  
Brian Knoth

Understanding the causes of contemporary variation in growth rates can offer insights into the likely consequences of climate change for growth and recruitment of coastal marine fishes. We examined the growth dynamics of age-0 northern rock sole ( Lepidopsetta polyxystra ) over four years in three nurseries at Kodiak Island, Alaska, USA. Following the settlement period, fish were sampled monthly (July–October) with a 3 m beam trawl at fixed-position transects. Postsettlement sizes were positively related to temperatures during the spawning and larval periods, suggesting environmental control of spawning or settlement timing. Summer growth on the nursery grounds varied significantly among sites and years (mean size 32.8–63.1 mm in mid-September), with the Holiday Beach site consistently supporting the fastest growth rates. Contrary to expectations of density dependence and thermal regulation, nursery ground growth rates were not significantly correlated with fish density or water temperatures. The minor contribution of thermal variation to growth rates appears related to the conservative growth strategy and low thermal sensitivity of northern rock sole. These results suggest that climate changes influencing spawning time and larval growth may have larger impacts on first-year growth and recruitment of this species than temperature effects on the growth of nursery-resident juveniles.


Author(s):  
Saule Zhangirovna Asylbekova ◽  
Kuanysh Baibulatovich Isbekov ◽  
Vladimir Nickolaevich Krainyuk

Pike-perch is an invader for the water basins of Central Kazakhstan. These species have stable self-reproductive populations in the regional waters. Back calculation method was used to investigate pike-perch growth rates in reservoirs of K. Satpayev’s channel. For comparison, the data from the other water bodies (Vyacheslavsky and Sherubay-Nurinsky water reservoirs) were used, as well as literature data. Pike-perch species from the investigated waters don’t show high growth rates. The populations from the reservoirs of K. Satpayev’s channel have quite similar growth rates with populations from the Amur river, from a number of reservoirs in the Volga river basin and from the reservoir in Spain. Sexual differences in growth have not been observed. Evaluating possible influence of various abiotic and biotic factors on the growth rate of pike-perch in the reservoirs of K. Satpayev’s channel was carried out. It has been stated that the availability of trophic resources cannot play a key role in growth dynamics because of their high abundance. Morphology of water bodies also does not play a role, as well as chromaticity, turbidity and other optical water indicators. It can be supposed that the main factor influencing growth of pike perch is the habitat’s temperature. This factor hardly ever approaches optimal values for the species in reservoirs of K. Satpaev’s channel. The possible influence of fishing selectivity on pike-perch growth rates was also evaluated. Currently, there has been imposed a moratorium on pike-perch catch. However, pike-perch is found in by-catches and in catches of amateur fishermen. It should be said that such seizures have an insignificant role in the dynamics of growth rates.


Author(s):  
Cynthia D. Trowbridge

The stenophagous ascoglossan (=sacoglossan) opisthobranch Elysia viridis has long been a model organism for the study of endosymbiosis or kleptoplasty as well as one of the few herbivores to consume the introduced green macroalga Codium fragile on European shores. Larval and post-larval dynamics of the ascoglossan were investigated. Planktotrophic larvae of E. viridis grew at 5–10 μm d−1 (shell length) at 15°C on a unicellular algal diet (the cryptophyte Rhodomonas baltica); larvae became competent one month post-hatching. Effective feeding and chloroplast acquisition typically started within 2–3 d of metamorphosis. Slugs grew about 8 mm in the first month of post-larval life. During this period, juveniles held in the light did not grow faster or survive better than conspecifics held in the dark; thus, functional kleptoplasty did not occur during first three weeks of benthic life. While larval growth rates and the nature of metamorphic cues are consistent with those of many other opisthobranch species with planktotrophic larvae, measures of post-larval growth—particularly as it pertains to kleptoplasty—is a new contribution to opisthobranch biology.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Heres ◽  
J. Troncoso ◽  
E. Paredes

AbstractCryopreservation is the only reliable method for long-term storage of biological material that guarantees genetic stability. This technique can be extremely useful for the conservation of endangered species and restock natural populations for declining species. Many factors have negatively affected the populations of high economical value shellfish in Spain and, as a result, many are declining or threatened nowadays. This study was focused on early-life stages of Venerupis corrugata, Ruditapes decussatus and Ruditapes philippinarum to develop successful protocols to enhance the conservation effort and sustainable shellfishery resources. Firstly, common cryoprotecting agents (CPAs) were tested to select the suitable permeable CPA attending to toxicity. Cryopreservation success using different combinations of CPA solutions, increasing equilibrium times and larval stages was evaluated attending to survival and shell growth at 2 days post-thawing. Older clam development stages were more tolerant to CPA toxicity, being ethylene-glycol (EG) and Propylene-glycol (PG) the least toxic CPAs. CPA solution containing EG yielded the highest post-thawing survival rate and the increase of equilibration time was not beneficial for clam larvae. Cryopreservation of trochophores yielded around 50% survivorship, whereas over 80% of cryopreserved D-larvae were able to recover after thawing.


Author(s):  
Laura Härkönen ◽  
Pauliina Louhi ◽  
Riina Huusko ◽  
Ari Huusko

Understanding the dynamic nature of individual growth in stream-dwelling salmonids may help forecast consequences of climate change on northern fish populations. Here, we performed an experimental capture-mark-recapture study in Atlantic salmon to quantify factors influencing wintertime growth variation among juveniles under different scenarios for ice cover reduction. We applied multiple imputation to simulate missing size observations for unrecaptured fish, and to account for individual-level variation in growth rates. The salmon parr exhibited substantial body length shrinkage in early winter, suppressed growth through mid-winter, and increasing growth rates in late winter and particularly in spring. Unexpectedly, the presence of ice cover had no direct effects on wintertime growth. Instead, our results implied increasing energetic costs with reducing ice cover: individuals exposed to absent or shortened ice-covered period gained mass at a lowered rate in spring whereas the present, long ice-covered period was followed by rapid growth. This study emphasizes natural resilience of Atlantic salmon to wintertime environmental variation which may help the species to cope with the reductions in ice cover duration due to climate change.


Development ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 102 (2) ◽  
pp. 287-299 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.R. Franks ◽  
B.R. Hough-Evans ◽  
R.J. Britten ◽  
E.H. Davidson

A method is described for microinjection of cloned DNA into the zygote nucleus of Lytechinus variegatus. Eggs of this species are unusually transparent, facilitating visual monitoring of the injection process. The initial fate of injected DNA fragments appears similar to that observed earlier for exogenous DNA injected into unfertilized egg cytoplasm. Thus after end-to-end ligation, it is replicated after a lag of several hours to an extent indicating that it probably participates in most of the later rounds of DNA synthesis undergone by the host cell genomes during cleavage. The different consequences of nuclear versus cytoplasmic injection are evident at advanced larval stages. Larvae descendant from eggs in which exogenous DNA was injected into the nuclei are four times more likely (32% versus 8%) to retain this DNA in cell lineages that replicate very extensively during larval growth, i.e. the lineages contributing to the imaginal rudiment, and thus to display greatly enhanced contents of the exogenous DNA. Similarly, 36% of postmetamorphic juveniles from a nuclear injection sample retained the exogenous DNA sequences, compared to 12% of juveniles from a cytoplasmic injection sample. However, the number of copies of the exogenous DNA sequences retained per average genome in postmetamorphic juveniles was usually less than 0.1 (range 0.05-50), and genome blot hybridizations indicate that these sequences are organized as integrated, randomly oriented, end-to-end molecular concatenates. It follows that only a small fraction of the cells of the average juvenile usually retains the exogenous sequences. Thus, even when introduced by nuclear microinjection, the stable incorporation of exogenous DNA in the embryo occurs in a mosaic fashion, although in many recipients the DNA enters a wider range of cell lineages than is typical after cytoplasmic injection. Nuclear injection would probably be the route of choice for studies of exogenous DNA function in the postembryonic larval rudiment.


2007 ◽  
Vol 274 (1612) ◽  
pp. 977-981 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel G Kingsolver

The tobacco hornworm Manduca sexta has been an important model system for understanding physiological control of growth, development and metamorphosis of insects for more than half a century. Like all Manduca , M. sexta typically has five larval instars, with developmental commitment to metamorphosis occurring early in the 5th (final) instar. Here we show that M. sexta from a field population in North Carolina (USA) shows substantial intraspecific variation in the number of larval instars when feeding on a modified artificial diet. Individuals with six instars consistently exhibited slower growth rates during early larval development than individuals with five instars. The frequency of individuals with six instars decreased with increased rearing temperature. In contrast, M. sexta from a laboratory colony consistently had five instars, and had more rapid larval growth rates than M. sexta from the field. We identify a threshold body size at the start of the 5th instar that predicts whether an individual will have five (greater than 600 mg) or six instars (less than 600 mg). Variation in field populations in Manduca provides an important resource for understanding physiological control, developmental plasticity and evolution of growth rate, body size and instar number.


2001 ◽  
Vol 79 (9) ◽  
pp. 1552-1558 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew J Parris

Terrestrial ecology has been largely neglected in the study of amphibian life histories because it is difficult to manipulate most species during the terrestrial stage. I examined the terrestrial performance of Rana blairi, Rana sphenocephala, and four hybrid (two F1 and two advanced generation) genotypes in replicated experimental enclosures to test for differences in traits related to juvenile terrestrial fitness. I produced all genotypes by means of artificial fertilizations using frogs collected from natural populations in central Missouri, and juvenile frogs were obtained from larvae reared in experimental ponds. Following metamorphosis, froglets were raised in single-genotype groups in terrestrial enclosures through the first overwintering. The proportion surviving did not vary among genotypes, but the power to detect significant differences was low. F1 hybrid genotypes BS and SB demonstrated significantly higher growth rates than either parental species or advanced-generation hybrid genotypes. Observation of growth rates of advanced-generation hybrids equal to those of the parental species, and heterosis in F1 hybrids for growth rate, suggests that natural hybridization between R. blairi and R. sphenocephala can produce novel and relatively fit hybrid genotypes. Direct measurement of multiple fitness components for hybrid and parental genotypes is critical for assessing the evolutionary potential of natural hybridization in organisms with complex life cycles.


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