IR Home
MEPS
Home
Editors
Forthcoming
Information
Subscribe
Journals
Home
MEPS
AME
CR
DAO
ESEP
ESR
Search
Subscribe
Book Series
EE Books
Top Books
ESEP Books
Order
EEIU Brochures
(pdf format)
Discussion Forums
Home
Research
IR Research
Institutions
International Ecology Institute
Eco-Ethics International Union
Foundation
Otto Kinne Foundation
 | |
MEPS 269:223-236 (2004)
|
Abstract
|
Particle removal rates by the mud shrimp Upogebia pugettensis, its burrow, and a commensal clam: effects on estuarine phytoplankton abundance
Blaine D. Griffen1,*, Theodore H. DeWitt2, Chris Langdon3
1Zoology Department, University of New Hampshire, 46 College Road, Durham, New Hampshire 03878, USA
2National Health and Environmental Effects Laboratory -- Western Ecology Division, US Environmental Protection Agency, Newport, Oregon 97365, USA
3Coastal Oregon Marine Experiment Station and Department of Fish and Wildlife, Oregon State University, Hatfield Marine Science Center, Newport, Oregon 97365, USA
*Email: bgriffen@cisunix.unh.edu
ABSTRACT: The burrowing shrimp Upogebia pugettensis is an abundant intertidal invertebrate of Pacific Northwest, USA bays and estuaries where it lives commensally with the bivalve Cryptomya californica. Suspension-feeding activities by the
shrimp and by its commensal clam, as well as particle settlement within the burrow, represent 3 different components that could remove phytoplankton from water drawn into shrimp burrows. These 3 components together comprise what we call the 'U.
pugettensis shrimp-burrow complex'. In laboratory experiments, we measured particle removal by each of these components. Our results indicated that U. pugettensis itself is responsible for filtering the majority of phytoplankton removed by the
U. pugettensis shrimp-burrow complex at phytoplankton concentrations of 0.12 mg C l-1, with filtration by C. californica becoming increasingly important at phytoplankton concentrations of 0.48 mg C l-1. Particle
settlement in the burrow and adhesion to the burrow wall may also be responsible for removal of substantial proportions of phytoplankton. Using results from both laboratory and field experiments, we developed a population filtration model to examine the
potential impacts of U. pugettensis shrimp-burrow complexes on phytoplankton in the Yaquina estuary, Newport, Oregon, USA. We showed that U. pugettensis shrimp-burrow complexes in this estuary may be capable of daily filtering the entire
body of overlying water. We also examined the potential for food competition between U. pugettensis and other suspension feeders that are found in shrimp habitats, represented in this study by the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas. Comparison
of retention efficiencies of shrimp and oysters indicated that they are both capable of utilizing phytoplankton-sized particles with similar efficiencies and, therefore, may compete for food when phytoplankton abundance is growth-limiting.
KEY WORDS: Suspension feeding · Burrowing shrimp · Upogebia pugettensis · Cryptomya californica · Yaquina
Full text in pdf format
Published in MEPS Vol.
269
(2004) on March 25
Print ISSN: 0171-8630; Online ISSN: 1616-1599.
Copyright © Inter-Research, Oldendorf/Luhe, 2004
|
