. The Eastern Bering Sea Shelf : oceanography and resources / edited by Donald W. Hood and John A. Calder. Oceanography Bering Bivalve Mollusks of the Southeastern Bering Sea J. McDonald, H. M. Feder, and M. Hoberg Institute of Marine Science University of Alaska Fairbanks ABSTRACT Bivalve mollusks and other infaunal species of the south- eastern Bering Sea shelf have patchy distributions. The distribution of the bivalves Nucula tenuis, Nuculana fossa, Yoldia amygdalea, Macoma calcarea. Tellina lutea, Clino- cardium ciliatum, Cyclocardia crebricostata, and Spisula polynyma is associated
. The Eastern Bering Sea Shelf : oceanography and resources / edited by Donald W. Hood and John A. Calder. Oceanography Bering Bivalve Mollusks of the Southeastern Bering Sea J. McDonald, H. M. Feder, and M. Hoberg Institute of Marine Science University of Alaska Fairbanks ABSTRACT Bivalve mollusks and other infaunal species of the south- eastern Bering Sea shelf have patchy distributions. The distribution of the bivalves Nucula tenuis, Nuculana fossa, Yoldia amygdalea, Macoma calcarea. Tellina lutea, Clino- cardium ciliatum, Cyclocardia crebricostata, and Spisula polynyma is associated with specific sediment size, sorting ranges, percentage of mud, and depth. There is little differ- ence in the growth rates of Nucula tenuis, Nuculana fossa, Yoldia amygdalea, Spisula polynyma, Tellina lutea, and Macoma calcarea over the southeastern Bering Sea shelf. Mortality between year-classes for each species of clam v£u:ies significantly at specific ages. The variation in year-class composition of specific stations indicates variable annual recruitment success of different areas on the shelf. The data presented here support Neiman's age-composition hypothesis, which suggests that the prevalence of older bivalve mollusks in the middle zone of the eastern Bering Sea results from the exclusion of predatory bottom fishes by the low winter water temperatures. INTRODUCTION Bivalve mollusks are among the dominant infauna of the shelf of the southeastern Bering Sea with 128 described species (N. Foster, personal communica- tion) and as many as 3,380 individuals observed per m^ (Feder et al. 1980). Clams and cockles are an important link in benthic food webs, leading to snow (Tanner) crabs (Chionoecetes spp.), king crabs {Paralithodes spp.), and flatfishes in some regions of the Bering Sea (Feder and Jewett, Chapter 65, this volume; Neiman 1964; Pereyra et al. 1976). It has been suggested that predators control the densities and age composition of bivalve populations in the sout
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