INDIVIDUAL VARIATION OF GROWTH AND FILTRATION RATES OF MUSSELS MYTILUS GALLOPROVINCIALIS LAM
Research on individual variation of the filtration and growth rates of mussels was based both on the authors’ field and laboratory experiments and literature data analysis. High individual variability of these characteristics was recorded during the tests. The coefficient of variation grew up as the mean rate diminished. Under low specific growth rate the coefficient of variation (ratio of root-mean-square deviation to the sample mean) could exceed 100 %. Tests revealed the power-law relation of the coefficient of variation from the average for studied characteristics. That relation could be seen in filtration and growth rate charts; it was also true for estimates of production energy and metabolic costs. The exponent varied from -0.36 to -0.77. Individual growth rate variation of mussels was concluded to be an important criterion of the favorability of environmental conditions.