Ecology of Buzzards Bay : an estuarine profile ecologyofbuzzard00howe Year: 1996 2 Fig. Quahogs {Mercenaria mercenaria), left, and shoft-shelled clams (Mya arenaria), right. Photo by D Goehringer Soft-shelled clams, Mya arenaria (Fig. ). generally occur in sandy or muddy sediments in pro- tected harbors and inlets and in salt marsh creeks, burrowed in the sediment with siphons extending into the water column. Their fragile shells are less tolerant to disturbance and are more easily broken than those of most other species of clams in the Buzzards Bay region. Because their shells do
Ecology of Buzzards Bay : an estuarine profile ecologyofbuzzard00howe Year: 1996 2 Fig. Quahogs {Mercenaria mercenaria), left, and shoft-shelled clams (Mya arenaria), right. Photo by D Goehringer Soft-shelled clams, Mya arenaria (Fig. ). generally occur in sandy or muddy sediments in pro- tected harbors and inlets and in salt marsh creeks, burrowed in the sediment with siphons extending into the water column. Their fragile shells are less tolerant to disturbance and are more easily broken than those of most other species of clams in the Buzzards Bay region. Because their shells do not close tightly (a portion of the siphon protrudes from the shell), they have limited tolerance to anoxia and can suffer high mortalities from sulfide accumula- tion under low oxygen conditions resulting from ei- ther natural or anthropogenic causes. Because these shellfish are more prevalent in soft organic-rich sedi- ments, occasional low oxygen conditions are likely due to oxygen depletion in bottom waters that re- sults from microbial decomposition of this organic matter. Intolerant of salinities less than 5 ppt, they frequently inhabit low-energy embayments where organic matter can accumulate yet with sufficient flushing or limited freshwater inputs to maintain high enough salinity for reproduction and growth. The combination of low-energy, high organic matter en- vironments and sensitivity to hypoxia can result in mass mortalities of this species, as have occurred in Cape Cod Bay ( Hampson, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, personal communica- tion). Because of the somewhat fragile nature of their shells, there has been recent interest in hydraulic dredging to decrease losses during harvest and in- crease yields over traditional hand-tonging. In addition to infaunal bivalves. Buzzards Bay is recognized for its high productivity of the epibenthic bay scallop, Aequipecten irradians (Fig. ; Gutsell 1930). Cape Cod is considered the north- em limit for the scallo
Size: 1171px × 1707px
Photo credit: © Bookend / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: archive, book, drawing, historical, history, illustration, image, page, picture, print, reference, vintage
