Particle sorting in bivalves: in vivo determination of the pallial organs of selection |
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Authors: | J E Ward J S Levinton S E Shumway T Cucci |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Marine Sciences, University of Connecticut, Groton, Connecticut 06240, USA, US;(2) Department of Ecology and Evolution, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, New York 11794, USA, US;(3) Natural Science Division, Southampton College, Long Island University, Southampton, New York 11968, USA, IS;(4) Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, Boothbay Harbor, Maine 04575, USA, US |
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Abstract: | Benthic particle feeders are exposed to a food supply varying in both quantity and quality. Previous studies have shown that
bivalve molluscs deal with such fluctuating particle regimes in a variety of ways, including adjustments in pumping and ingestion
rates, and selective rejection of non-nutritive particles as pseudofeces. The actual site of particle selection within the
pallial cavity, however, has remained a topic of speculation. During August 1995 and January and August 1996, we exposed the
oysters Crassostrea virginica (Gmelin) and C. gigas (Thunberg), and the mussel Mytilus trossulus Gould to a mixture of ground, aged Spartina alterniflora Loisel and similar-sized phytoplankton at three concentrations (103, 104, 105 particles ml−1). We then examined the ctenidia and labial palps by means of endoscopy and sampled, in vivo, the particulate material from
various ciliated tracts, and analyzed the samples with a flow cytometer. We found that in oysters, the ctenidia are responsible
for particle sorting, whereas the labial palps play an accessory role in particle selection, or function to control the volume
of material to be ingested. In mussels, however, the ctenidia play little role in particle selection and simply transport
particulate matter to the palps for further processing. We suggest that selection by the ctenidia of oysters is a function
of their architecture (plicate, heterorhabdic).
Received: 4 June 1997 / Accepted: 23 January 1998 |
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