Gamete production,somatic growth and multiple-locus enzyme heterozygosity inMytilus edulis

Mussels,Mytilus edulis L., were collected from the lower shore in Stony Brook Harbor, New York, USA, in April 1984. The mussels were in spawning condition at the time of collection. Mantle weight was used as an index of fecundity and somatic tissue weight and growth rate were measured so that the relative production of gametes and somatic tissue with age could be calculated. For each individual mussel the genotypes at loci coding for five enzymes were determined. Somatic tissue production exceeds gamete production for the first two and a half years of life, but thereafter it declines and is exceeded by gamete production. There is a positive correlation between multiple-locus enzyme heterozygosity and fecundity in mussels which have grown beyond the size at which gamete production starts to exceed somatic production. There is no correlation between heterozygosity and fecundity in younger individuals. We conclude that the higher scope for growth of more heterozygous bivalves, described elsewhere, is translated into allocation of energy to somatic growth during early life and into gamete production in later life. Our observations perhaps explain why, in other studies, the correlation between growth rate and heterozygosity in bivalves is manifested most clearly when young individuals are examined.