An improved automatic recording apparatus for determining the filtration rate ofMytilus edulisas a function of size and algal concentration
✍ Scribed by H. U. Riisgård; F. Møhlenberg
- Publisher
- Springer-Verlag
- Year
- 1979
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 635 KB
- Volume
- 52
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0025-3162
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✦ Synopsis
An automatic recording apparatus for measuring the filtration rate in suspensionfeeding bivalves is described. The concentration of algae in the experimental medium is kept constant throughout each experiment by addition of Phaeodactylum tricornutum from a chemostat. Within the range of body size 5.7 to 283 mg (w = dry weight of tissues), the filtration rate (F = ml min-1) at 15~
in Mytilus edulis L. follows the allometric equation F = 0.85 W O.72. Within the concentrations 0.18 to 0.70 mg algal dry weight 1-1, the filtration rate in mussels of 132 mg dry flesh weight ranges from 33.1 to 41.O ml min -I. At O.18 mg algal dry weight 1-I the mussels filter continuously for 20 h, with a high constant rate that presumably represents the water transport capacity under optimal laboratory conditions.
I ntroduction
Understanding of the bioenergetics of bivalves requires accurate estimates of the filtration rate under defined conditions. The automatic recording apparatus described by Winter (1973) can maintain a constant algal concentration over long periods and permits continuous measurement to be made of the filtration rate in bivalves such as the mussel Mytilus edulis. The apparatus represents a great improvement towards making long-term experiments under defined constant conditions, but most of the filtration rates in the present work by: (a) placing the mussels in an experimental chamber outside the photoaquaria and preventing them from recirculating some of the water by pumping water from the photoaquarium through the experimental chamber and back again at a sufficiently