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Since the degree of syphonal opening can be an index of the pumping activity, the shape and the surface of syphon openings in Mya arenaria were filmed with an underwater camera at two stations in the middle of the intertidal zone. The individuals were perpendicularly oriented to the main current direction or parallel with the inhalant syphon upstream during flood tide, causing refiltration risks during ebb tide. The surface of the inhalant opening (SI) was strongly reduced with increasing current speeds. Its shape (XI) varied with the individual's orientation and had a tendency to become more circular with time. The surface of the exhalant opening (SE) decreased and its shape (XE) flattened with increasing current velocity and with time. However, variations of XI and XE were weak. Current direction had no significant effect on SI, SE, and XE, but did cause a strong decrease of the SE/SI ratio during ebb in individuals exposed to important refiltration risks during ebb tide. Significant negative correlations between stomach content in phaeopigments and SI and SE suggest that a syphonal constriction could contribute to more efficient feeding. For parallel oriented individuals, the decreases of SE, SE/SI, and XE during ebb can then be interpreted as an attempt to deviate or increase the excurrent velocity relative to the incurrent so as to limit refiltration. We suggest that decreases in opening surface and shape may serve, above all, to increase syphon current jet velocity in syphonate bivalves.

In Mont Saint-Michel Bay, one of the most abundant food items in young sea bass diets was Mytilus edulis. This invertebrate is an abundant cultured bivalve in many coastal systems and it is known to be in direct trophic competition with the natural food items of sea bass. This study shows that mussel culture can play the role of a nursery area, providing food for young opportunistic fish. Quantification of these interactions appears to be of a major importance in order to enable sustainable management of coastal areas.