the reproductive biology of the softshell clam, mya arenaria, in ireland, and the possible impacts of climate variability生殖生物学的软壳蛤,米娅arenaria,在爱尔兰,和可能的气候变化的影响.pdfVIP

Hindawi Publishing Corporation Journal of Marine Biology Volume 2012, Article ID 908163, 9 pages doi:10.1155/2012/908163 Research Article The Reproductive Biology of the Softshell Clam, Mya arenaria, in Ireland, and the Possible Impacts of Climate Variability M. E. Cross, S. Lynch, A. Whitaker, R. M. O’ Riordan, and S. C. Culloty Aquaculture and Fisheries Development Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland Correspondence should be addressed to M. E. Cross, maud.cross@ucc.ie Received 3 January 2012; Revised 2 March 2012; Accepted 2 March 2012 ˚ Academic Editor: Hans Ulrik Riisgard Copyright © 2012 M. E. Cross et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Little is known about the biology of the softshell clam in Europe, despite it being identified as a potential species to culture for food in the future. Monthly samples of the softshell clam, Mya arenaria, were collected intertidally from Co. Wexford, Ireland, over a period of sixteen months. The mean weight of sampled individuals was 74 ± 4.9 g and mean length was 8.2 ± 0.2 cm. Histological examination revealed a female-to-male ratio of 1 : 1.15. In 2010, M. arenaria at this site matured over the summer months, with both sexes either ripe or spawning by August. A single spawning event was recorded in 2010, completed by November. Two unusually cold winters, followed by a warmer-than-average spring, appear to have affected M. arenaria gametogenesis in this area, potentially affecting the time of spawning, fertilisation success, and recruitment of this sp