Glochidial metamorphosis of the freshwater mussel Lampsilis cardium (Bivalvia: Unionidae) on larval tiger salamanders, Ambystoma tigrinum ssp. (Amphibia: Ambystomidae)

1997 ◽  
Vol 75 (3) ◽  
pp. 505-508 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Thomas Watters

Larval tiger salamanders (Ambystoma tigrinum ssp.) were infected with glochidia of the freshwater mussel Lampsilis cardium in laboratory experiments. At 20–21 °C, metamorphosis occurred from 9 to 39 days, primarily between 9 and 17 days. The percentage of attached glochidia that metamorphosed varied from 0.27 to 15.7%. Metamorphosis on the salamanders occurred more quickly than on a known piscine host, largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides), but a smaller percentage of the total attached glochidia metamorphosed. The role of amphibians as hosts of freshwater mussels in North America has not been addressed. Recognizing such a relationship could have important consequences for our understanding of mussel zoogeography.

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine M Vega ◽  
Miriam A Ashley-Ross

Synopsis Animals live in heterogeneous environments must navigate in order to forage or capture food, defend territories, and locate mates. These heterogeneous environments have a variety of substrates that differ in their roughness, texture, and other properties, all of which may alter locomotor performance. Despite such natural variation in substrate, many studies on locomotion use noncompliant surfaces that either are unrepresentative of the range of substrates experienced by species or underestimate maximal locomotor capabilities. The goal of this study was to determine the role of forefeet and hindfeet on substrates with different properties during walking in a generalized sprawling tetrapod, the tiger salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum). Adult salamanders (n = 4, SVL = 11.2–14.6 cm) walked across level dry sand (DS), semi-soft plaster of Paris (PoP), wet sand (WS), and a hard, noncompliant surface (table)—substrates that vary in compliance. Trials were filmed in dorsal and anterior views. Videos were analyzed to determine the number of digits and surface area of each foot in contact with the substrate. The surface area of the forelimbs contacting the substrate was significantly greater on DS and PoP than on WS and the table. The surface area of the hindlimbs contacting the substrate was significantly greater on DS than on all other substrates. There were no significant differences in the time that the fore- or hindfeet were in contact with the substrate as determined by the number of digits. We conclude that salamanders modulate the use of their feet depending on the substrate, particularly on DS which is known to increase the mechanical work and energy expended during locomotion owing to the fluid nature of its loose particles. More studies are needed to test a wider range of substrates and to incorporate behavioral data from field studies to get a better understanding of how salamanders are affected by different substrates in their natural environment.


1990 ◽  
Vol 47 (12) ◽  
pp. 2358-2363 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. R. Meador ◽  
W. E. Kelso

Plasma osmotic and electrolyte concentrations as well as branchial Na+/K+ and Mg++ ATPase activities were determined in the field for largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides, from a brackish marsh and freshwater lake in southcentral Louisiana. Laboratory experiments were conducted to evaluate plasma chemistry and gill ATPase activities of largemouth bass from both locations exposed to 0, 4, 8, and 12‰ salinity. No significant differences in physiological responses were detected between marsh and freshwater largemouth bass exposed to 0, 4, or 12‰. Exposure to 12‰ salinity resulted in osmotic stress in largemouth bass from both locations. At 8‰, marsh largemouth bass had significantly higher plasma solutes and lower gill ATPase activities than freshwater fish. Different physiological responses by marsh and freshwater largemouth bass during exposure to 8‰ salinity indicated that marsh largemouth bass have adapted to environments of variable salinity by reducing active ion transport and tolerating elevated plasma son levels.


2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth G. Ostrand ◽  
Michael J. Siepker ◽  
David H. Wahl

Abstract Livewell conditions during competitive angling events are thought to affect fish mortality. We examined the effects of livewell additives on initial and delayed mortality of largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides. We applied three treatments (salt, ice, or salt and ice) to livewells during tournaments conducted on lakes in Illinois, United States, as well as in laboratory and pond experiments designed to examine the effects of fish size and ambient water temperature on mortality. Fish were collected after tournament weigh-in procedures were completed and monitored for delayed mortality every 24 h for 5 d. Initial mortality did not differ among livewell additives during these field experiments. Although delayed mortality was high (35%), it was not significantly different among livewells that contained salt (56%), ice (48%), ice and salt (40%), and controls (30%). Additives administered during the laboratory experiments, at cool water temperatures, resulted in significantly lower delayed mortalities than those observed during the field experiments when ambient water temperatures were warmer. Initial and delayed mortality did not differ among livewell additives during the laboratory experiments. Larger fish in field experiments had significantly greater delayed mortality than smaller fish in the pond experiments even though initial and delayed mortality did not differ among livewell additives. Our results suggest that fish size and ambient water temperature have a greater influence on delayed mortality observed during competitive angling events than the specific livewell additives studied here.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
David O Norris ◽  
Angela Geiger ◽  
Alan Milan Vajda

Abstract The widespread occurrence of gonadal intersex (presence of testicular oocytes) has been recently reported in populations of Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides) and Smallmouth Bass Micropterus dolomieu) from populations across North America. To evaluate the historical occurrence of intersex in bass species, gonads were examined visually and histologically from Largemouth Bass and Smallmouth Bass from museum specimens collected from 16 States. These fishes were collected between 1823-1965, before the widespread discharge of estrogenic chemicals to surface waters via wastewater effluents. All females examined had normal ovaries. Intersex gonads were identified in 17.8 % of male Largemouth Bass, and in 14.2% of male Smallmouth Bass. The intensity of testicular oocytes in some males was as great as observed since 2000. These results indicate that the occurrence of this form of intersex in these bass species is not a recent phenomenon.


1998 ◽  
Vol 55 (11) ◽  
pp. 2414-2424 ◽  
Author(s):  
James E Garvey ◽  
Russell A Wright ◽  
Roy A Stein

How large size affects overwinter growth and survival of age-0 fish may vary as a function of food, predation, and energetic condition. During two winters in Ohio, we assessed how these factors affected growth and survival of varying sizes of age-0 largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) by combining a field survey (N = 2 reservoirs) with multiscale experiments (reservoirs, ponds, outdoor pools). In our survey, more small (< 100 mm total length) individuals died by spring in one reservoir than in the other. Similarly, when we stocked two reservoirs with marked age-0 largemouth bass in fall, mortality of small individuals was higher in one system overwinter, potentially due to differences in predation intensity. In ponds during two winters, size-selective mortality of small largemouth bass occurred in only two of eight ponds, potentially as a function of cannibalism. Varying ration in pools (starved, 0.5× maintenance, or 1.5× maintenance) did not affect survival, even though starved individuals lost substantial wet weight and energy content. Only when predators were present did small individuals die at high rates, although energy depletion may have contributed to predatory mortality. To increase the probability of overwinter survival, managers should seek to improve first-summer growth, reduce winter predation, and increase winter forage.


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