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Shell Growth (shell + growth)
Selected AbstractsLinking environmental warming to the fitness of the invasive clam Corbicula flumineaGLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY, Issue 12 2009MARKUS WEITERE Abstract Climate warming is discussed as a factor that can favour the success of invasive species. In the present study, we analysed potential fitness gains of moderate warming (3 °C above field temperature) on the invasive clam Corbicula fluminea during summer and winter. The experiments were conducted under seminatural conditions in a bypass-system of a large river (Rhine, Germany). We showed that warming in late summer results in a significant decrease in the clams' growth rates (body mass and shell length increase) and an increase in mortality rate. The addition of planktonic food dampens the negative effect of warming on the growth rates. This suggests that the reason for the negative growth effect of temperature increase in late summer is a negative energetic balance caused by an enhanced metabolic rate at limited food levels. Warming during early summer revealed contrasting effects with respect of body mass (no warming effect) and shell length (increased shell growth with warming). This differential control of both parameters further enhances the loss of the relative (size-specific) body mass with warming. In contrast, warming in winter had a consistently positive effect on the clams' growth rate as demonstrated in two independent experiments. Furthermore, the reproduction success (as measured by the average number of larvae per clam) during the main breeding period (April) was strongly enhanced by experimental warming during winter, i.e. by eight times during the relatively cold winter 2005/2006 and by 2.6 times during the relatively warm winter 2007/2008. This strong, positive effect of moderate winter warming on the clams' fitness is probably one reason for the recent invasion success of C. fluminea in the northern hemisphere. However, warm summer events might counteract the positive winter warming effect, which could balance out the fitness gains. [source] Cover Picture: Colloidal Synthesis of Hollow Cobalt Sulfide Nanocrystals (Adv. Funct.ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS, Issue 11 2006Mater. Abstract Hollow nanocrystals have been synthesized through a mechanism analogous to the Kirkendall Effect. When a cobalt nanocrystal reacts with sulfur in solution, the outward diffusion of cobalt atoms is faster than the inward diffusion of sulfur atoms through the sulfide shell. The dominating outward diffusion of cobalt cations produces vacancies that can condense into a single void in the center of the nanocrystal at high temperatures. This process provides a general route to the synthesis of hollow nanostructures of a large number of compounds and is described in the Full Paper by A.,P. Alivisatos and co-workers on p.,1389. Formation of cobalt sulfide hollow nanocrystals through a mechanism similar to the Kirkendall Effect has been investigated in detail. It is found that performing the reaction at >,120,°C leads to fast formation of a single void inside each shell, whereas at room temperature multiple voids are formed within each shell, which can be attributed to strongly temperature-dependent diffusivities for vacancies. The void formation process is dominated by outward diffusion of cobalt cations; still, the occurrence of significant inward transport of sulfur anions can be inferred as the final voids are smaller in diameter than the original cobalt nanocrystals. Comparison of volume distributions for initial and final nanostructures indicates excess apparent volume in shells, implying significant porosity and/or a defective structure. Indirect evidence for fracture of shells during growth at lower temperatures was observed in shell-size statistics and transmission electron microscopy images of as-grown shells. An idealized model of the diffusional process imposes two minimal requirements on material parameters for shell growth to be obtainable within a specific synthetic system. [source] Laboratory spawning, larval development, and metamorphosis of the limpets Lottia digitalis and Lottia asmi (Patellogastropoda, Lottiidae)INVERTEBRATE BIOLOGY, Issue 1 2002Matthew C. Kay Abstract. This study describes and compares laboratory spawning, larval development, and metamorphosis in the patellogastropod limpets Lottia digitalis and Lottia asmi. Both species were dioecious and freely spawned their gametes, which were fertilized externally. Eggs from L. digitalis and L. asmi averaged 155 and 134 ,m in diameter, respectively. Early cleavage patterns were typical of other patellogastropods. Swimming trochophore larvae had developed , 15 hours after fertilization, and ultimately developed into lecithotrophic veliger larvae that reached metamorphic competence at 5.25,5.5 days after fertilization (13°C). Food particles were frequently visible in the gut of newly metamorphosed individuals one day after settlement, and adult shell growth was typically initiated within 2,4 days of settlement. Small egg size in L. asmi, relative to other eastern Pacific lottiids, may be directly related to the need for high fecundity in this small-bodied species; however, developmental information is available for relatively few lottiid species. Because broadcasting lottiids do not secure egg masses in safe microhabitats for development, this reproductive mode may have been conducive to their ecological radiation into novel habitats. [source] Models for the morphogenesis of the molluscan shellLETHAIA, Issue 2 2005ØYVIND HAMMER We give a review of current theories of morphogenesis of both the general coiling and the ornamentation of molluscan shells. These two aspects of shell growth are closely connected, as ornamentation is primarily due to local perturbations of the general apertural growth field controlling coiling. Also, a new, generalized, free-form apertural growth map model is presented in this paper, illustrating some aspects of the regulation of logarithmic spiral growth. This model is used to simulate the formation of megastriae in ammonoids. We emphasize the importance of damaged specimens and how they regenerated, as illustrated with examples from ammonoids. The phenomenon of ornamental compensation can be explained by a mechanism involving a pre-pattern in the mantle. However, simple reaction-diffusion models for ornamental pattern formation should be regarded only as useful abstractions. [source] Early Mesozoic evolution of alivincular bivalve ligaments and its implications for the timing of the ,Mesozoic marine revolution'LETHAIA, Issue 2 2004MICHAEL HAUTMANN The early Mesozoic radiation of the Pteriomorphia was accompanied and furthered by the development of several new types of alivincular ligaments. These new types evolved as modifications of the primitive alivincular-areate (new term) ligament, which is characterized by an ontogenetic shift of both the central resilium and the straight lateral ligament in the direction of main shell growth. Arching of the attachment surface of the ligament led to the alivincular-arcuate (new term) ligament type, which has been realized by the Ostreidae only. By contrast, a replacement of the lateral ligament by hinge teeth, limiting the (primary) ligament to a central groove (alivincular-fossate, new term), has evolved independently in three families (Dimyidae, Plicatulidae and Spondylidae). Functionally, both kinds of modification effectively impede shearing of the valves and are interpreted as an antipredatory adaptation advantageous in the cemented habit of these families. The alivincular-alate (new term) ligament of the Entoliidae and Pectinidae differs from the other types of alivincular ligaments by different growth directions of resilium and lateral ligament, which result in an internal position of the resilium suitable for fast and powerful opening of the valves. This arrangement is an important prerequisite for effective swimming, which, in its turn, is a behaviour chiefly used to escape from predator attacks. The simultaneous early Mesozoic appearance of different antipredatory adaptations within independent clades hints at increased predator pressure as a stimulant and may therefore point to a contemporaneous proliferation of durophagous predators. Hence, an important aspect of the ,Mesozoic marine revolution' might have started earlier than previously thought. [source] Perspectives of ammonite paleobiology from shell abnormalities in the genus BaculitesLETHAIA, Issue 3 2002R.A. HENDERSON Many Baculites specimens from the Upper Cretaceous of the United States Western Interior show exceptional preservation of the original aragonitic shell and its fine-scale surface ornamentation. Growth lines are ubiquitous, with two orders of these structures represented on some shells, and reflect the incremental addition of new shell at the apertural margin. Growth line interruption in the form of repair of minor shell damage at the aperture, commonplace in contemporary Nautilus, is essentially absent in Baculites, suggesting that its members fed on small prey in the water column. As typical of Mesozoic ammonites in general, and in striking contrast to contemporary Nautilus, no in vivo epizoans have been recognized on specimens of Baculites. It is inferred that the shell of Baculites was covered in periostracum to eliminate epizoic colonization. By analogy with Nautilus, a distinctive micro-ornament oriented at right angles to growth lines and visible on parts of some specimens was probably associated with periostracal attachment. A small proportion of Baculites specimens show abnormalities in shell growth categorized as v-shaped indentations of growth lines, shell grooves, fine-scale folds on the surface of growth lines and feather structures. We view this entire set of structures as due to abnormalities in mantle growth induced at the leading edge, impressed into the periostracum during its fabrication, and then in turn into the shell surface. As many of the Baculites with shell abnormalities are smooth, the proposal by Checa linking homologous structures recognized on other ammonites to the formation of comarginal ribs is rejected. A case of sutural inversion, in which the form of minor divisions of the major saddles and lobes are transposed, is recognized in a specimen of Baculites codyensis Reeside. We consider sutural pattern in ammonites, an expression of septal fluting, as replicating the genetically specified standing form of an elastic adapical visceral mass. The inverted sutural pattern, and by implication the style of septal fluting, was transcribed exactly in the three successive septa preserved on the specimen. The abnormality appears to be a case of homeotic mutation in which the plan for one body region becomes translocated to another. The conservatism of major elements of sutural (=septal) patterns for Mesozoic ammonites in their evolutionary spectrum suggests that a homeobox of conserved DNA sequence, with the transcription factors encoded in homeotic genes, is likely to have been involved. [source] Growth, survival and immune activity of scallops, Chlamys farreri Jones et Preston, compared between suspended and bottom culture in Haizhou Bay, ChinaAQUACULTURE RESEARCH, Issue 6 2010Zonghe Yu Abstract We examined the growth, survival and immune response of the scallop, Chlamys farreri, during a 1-year period in deep water of Haizhou Bay. Scallops were cultured using two methods: (1) in lantern nets at a 5 m depth and (2) in a bottom culture system (sleeves) on the seabed at about a 25 m depth. Shell heights, meat dry weight and immune activities in the haemolymph (superoxide dismutase and myeloperoxidase) were measured bimonthly or quarterly from July 2007 to June 2008. Survival was measured at the end of the study and environmental parameters in the experimental layers were monitored during the experiment. The growth and immune activities of scallops were lower when the water temperature was high, which was consistent with the main mortality occurring in summer. The growth and immunity of scallops were higher in the suspended culture than in the bottom culture during the experiment, with the exception of shell growth during the last study period. Survival of scallops in the suspended culture (54.6±12.3%) was significantly lower than that in the bottom culture (86.8±3.5%) at the end of this study. We conclude from our results that the high mortality of C. farreri can be prevented by culturing them in a bottom culture system before November of the first year, and then transferring them to a suspended culture to improve scallop production. [source] Effect of water temperature and chlorophyll abundance on shell growth of the Japanese pearl oyster, Pinctada fucata martensii, in suspended culture at different depths and sitesAQUACULTURE RESEARCH, Issue 2 2002Y Tomaru Abstract To understand the relationships between shell growth and some environmental factors, we examined the relationships between water temperature or chlorophyll abundance and the shell growth of the Japanese pearl oyster, Pinctada fucata martensii, suspended at three different depths at two sites. Growth in height, length and thickness of the shells were limited by water temperature during winter (< 20 °C), whereas growth in thickness correlated with food abundance, measured as chlorophyll, during early summer (> 20 °C). These results suggest that the shell of P. fucata martensii could grow well at locations with greater abundance of food and adequate water temperatures (20,26 °C), resulting in a longer growing season. [source] Seasonal and interannual variability of Siberian river discharge in the Laptev Sea inferred from stable isotopes in modern bivalvesBOREAS, Issue 2 2003THOMAS MUELLER-LUPP Stable oxygen and carbon isotope profiles from modern bivalve shells were investigated in order to reconstruct short-term hydrographical changes in the river-shelf system of the Laptev Sea. Oxygen isotopic profiles obtained from the aragonitic species Astarte borealis exhibit amplitude cycles interpreted as annual hydrographical cycles. These records reflect the strong contrast between summer and winter bottom water conditions in the Laptev Sea. The seasonal variations in ,18O are mainly controlled by the riverine freshwater discharge during summer with 0.5, per salinity unit. Corrected for a defined species-dependent fractionation offset of -0.37,, time-dependent salinity records were reconstructed from these ,18O profiles. They indicate a good correspondence to seasonal hydrographic changes and synoptical data. Persistent trends with shell growth towards more negative ,13C values are observed in all specimens and appear to be related to metabolic changes of the bivalves during ontogeny. In contrast, short-term fluctuations are likely linked to seasonal variabilities of the river water outflow patterns and enhanced phytoplankton productivity during summer. This is corroborated by a clear watermass-related distinction of the various ,13C records made on the basis of water depth and distance from the riverine source. [source] | |||||||||||||