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9 pages, 2 figures, 1 table, supplementary information https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-023-11133-9.-- Data availability: Data will be made available on request, The production of urban waste has increased in the past decades leading to its mishandling. The effects on public health, economy, and wildlife that waste mismanagement can have are forcing governments to increase their efforts in detecting and mitigating the presence of waste. Identifying and monitoring sentinel species to assess the presence of urban litter could be a cost-effective option. Thus, analyzing the nest composition of yellow-legged gulls from an urban population inhabiting a very high populated city (Barcelona, Spain), and combining this information with accurate GPS tracking data, provides a potential tool to monitor the presence of marine and terrestrial litter over time. The results revealed the highest presence of debris in the nests of a seabird ever recorded. All the nests examined contained anthropogenic waste, with plastic items present in all of them. Crossing the nest composition with GPS tracking movements confirmed that the waste to build the nests was collected in the urban area and not in other environments surrounding the city. Then, the nest waste composition may be a good indicator of waste mismanagement and advise the municipalities to improve waste management and recycling strategies for the different types of litter. Using gulls breeding in cities as sentinel species and, in particular, the study of their nest composition, may provide essential data to decision-making stakeholders to adopt a One Health approach and help improve not only the environment’s health but also the health of those who live in it, We acknowledge the accreditation of the “Severo Ochoa Center of Excellence” (CEX2019-000928-S). [...] Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature

10 pages, 4 figures, 3 tables, supplementary material https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fishres.2022.106552.-- Data availability: Data will be made available on request, Discards represent a loss of natural resources and negatively affect the sustainability of fisheries. Information on discards, such as diversity and size of the species discarded is essential to better manage trawl fisheries. Thus, this study aims to gain knowledge on discards from the Catalan bottom trawl fisheries in the NW Mediterranean Sea to offer information needed for fisheries management. Discard ratios, species composition of discards and lengths of the discards were analyzed from data collected on board commercial trawlers, from November 2018 to December 2020 and analyzed by depth, zone, and season. Discard ratio varied among depths from 30.5% in the shallowest depth (20 – 70 m) to 14.3% in the deepest (400–700 m), with depth being the main factor determining the species composition of discards. This study also focused on the discards of six main commercial species, i.e. European hake (Merluccius merluccius), red mullet (Mullus barbatus), black-bellied angler (Lophius budegassa), poor cod (Trisopterus capelanus), deep-water pink shrimp (Parapenaeus longirostris) and Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus). The length at which 50% of individuals were discarded (L50d) was lower than the Length at First Maturity (LFM) and the Minimum Conservation Reference Size (MCRS) for the six species. These findings provide relevant information to comply with the Marine Strategy Framework Directive’s (EU Directive 2008/56/EC) ecosystem approach to fisheries and to evaluate the implementation of measures for fisheries’ best management practices, such as gear selectivity and spatial planning, This work was supported by the Catalan Institute for Ocean Governance Research (ICATMAR), trawl surveys were financed by European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) and the Catalan General Directorate of Marine Policy and Sustainable Fisheries by projects PESCAT (ARP029/18/00003) and CGCAT (ARP140/20/000006). This work acknowledges the accreditation of the 'Severo Ochoa Center of Excellence' (CEX2019-000928-S)

14 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables.-- This is Smithsonian Marine Station contribution #1138, In 2011, the Indian River Lagoon, a biodiverse estuary in eastern Florida (USA), experienced an intense microalgal bloom with disastrous ecological consequences. The bloom included a mix of microalgae with unresolved taxonomy and lasted for 7 months with a maximum concentration of 130 μg chlorophyll a L. In 2012, brown tide Aureoumbra lagunensis also bloomed in portions of this estuary, with reoccurrences in 2016 and 2018. To identify and understand the role of grazer pressure (top-down control) on bloom formation, we coupled DNA sequencing with bivalve feeding assays using three microalgae isolated from the 2011 bloom and maintained in culture. Feeding experiments were conducted on widely distributed bivalve species in the lagoon, including eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica), hooked mussels (Ischadium recurvum), charru mussels (Mytella charruana), green mussels (Perna viridis), Atlantic rangia (Rangia cuneata), and hard clams (Mercenaria mercenaria), which were exposed to 3 × 10 cells mL of five species of microalgae consisting of A. lagunensis and the three species clarified herein, the picocyanobacteria Crocosphaera sp. and ‘Synechococcus’ sp., and the picochlorophyte Picochlorum sp., as well as Nannochloropsis oculata used as a control. To ensure clearance rates were indicative of consumption and assimilation, the microalgae were isotopically (N) labeled prior to feeding experiments. Clearance rates differed among bivalve and microalgal species, but enriched N values in bivalve tissue suggest that algal bloom species were assimilated by the bivalves. These results expand our understanding of the important ecosystem services that healthy, biodiverse filter feeder communities provide, We thank St. Johns River Water Management District (Contract 27799) and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC Agreement No. 13051) for funding the project, With the funding support of the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S), of the Spanish Research Agency (AEI)

16 pages, 1 figure, 4 tables, supplementary material https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-019-00661-8, Eutrophication is a challenge to coastal waters around the globe. In many places, nutrient reductions from land-based sources have not been sufficient to achieve desired water quality improvements. Bivalve shellfish have shown promise as an in-water strategy to complement land-based nutrient management. A local-scale production model was used to estimate oyster (Crassostrea virginica) harvest and bioextraction of nitrogen (N) in Great Bay Piscataqua River Estuary (GBP), New Hampshire, USA, because a system-scale ecological model was not available. Farm-scale N removal results (0.072 metric tons acre year) were up-scaled to provide a system-wide removal estimate for current (0.61 metric tons year), and potential removal (2.35 metric tons year) at maximum possible expansion of licensed aquaculture areas. Restored reef N removal was included to provide a more complete picture. Nitrogen removal through reef sequestration was ~ 3 times that of aquaculture. Estimated reef-associated denitrification, based on previously reported rates, removed 0.19 metric tons N year. When all oyster processes (aquaculture and reefs) were included, N removal was 0.33% and 0.54% of incoming N for current and expanded acres, respectively. An avoided cost approach, with wastewater treatment as the alternative management measure, was used to estimate the value of the N removed. The maximum economic value for aquaculture-based removal was $105,000 and $405,000 for current and expanded oyster areas, respectively. Combined aquaculture and reef restoration is suggested to maximize N reduction capacity while limiting use conflicts. Comparison of removal based on per oyster N content suggests much lower removal rates than model results, but model harvest estimates are similar to reported harvest. Though results are specific to GBP, the approach is transferable to estuaries that support bivalve aquaculture but do not have complex system-scale hydrodynamic or ecological models, The authors would like to thank the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Regional Ecosystem Services Research Program for supporting this project through EPA/NOAA Interagency Agreement DW-13-92331301 and NOAA/EPA Memorandum of Understanding MOA-2011-025/8258, With the funding support of the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S), of the Spanish Research Agency (AEI)

19 pages, 8 figures, 7 tables, supplementary material https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.719049/full#supplementary-material.-- Data Availability Statement: The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/Supplementary Material, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author. Data is available through Figshare at https://doi.org/10.25573/data.16847746.-- This was Smithsonian Marine Station contribution #1166, Understanding the structure and function of infaunal communities is useful in determining the biodiversity and ecosystem function of shallow estuaries. We conducted a survey of infaunal communities within three separate water basins [Mosquito Lagoon (ML), Indian River (IR), and Banana River (BR)] in the larger Northern Indian River Lagoon, FL, United States to establish a database of infaunal community structure and function. Twenty-seven sites were sampled quarterly from 2014 to 2016. Analysis of all samples determined that basin, season, and sediment composition were the primary drivers of macrobenthic community composition. Diversity was highest in the ML, and lower in spring compared to other seasons. The occurrence of a brown tide (Aureoumbra lagunensis) in 2016 allowed a comparison of winter and spring communities before (2015) and during (2016) a bloom event. Community composition and diversity at the BR sites were the most affected by the bloom event with the lowest diversity and abundances during the bloom. Diversity in the IR was also lower during the bloom, while the ML was unaffected by the bloom. Species of all feeding groups were affected by the bloom, with lower abundances found in all groups. In addition, to determine the overall trophic diversity of infaunal communities, we collected infaunal organisms from two of the quarterly sampled sites for isotope analyses. Values of δ13C and δ15N from infaunal tissue were compared to those of potential food sources at each site. Substantial interspecific variation in isotope values of infaunal organisms within a site suggests the presence of diverse nutritional modes that include suspension and deposit feeding and predation. Together, these data suggest that infaunal communities contribute to benthic pelagic coupling and nutrient cycling within the estuarine communities, but the overall function of these communities may be tightly linked to their species composition, Funding for this work was provided through the St. Johns River Water Management District Algal Blooms Investigation project to the Smithsonian Marine Station (Contract No. 27799) and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC Agreement No. 13051). The funding for the publication of this manuscript was provided through an EPA Region 4 supplemental funding grant to the IRLNEP, With the institutional support of the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S)

8 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, supplementary data https://doi.org/10.1016/j.zool.2020.125778, Gastropod shells may present large spines and sharp shapes that vary according to environmental, taxonomic, and evolutionary factors. In these cases, classic morphometric methods used to study shell contour might not provide a clear representation of morphological shell based on angular decomposition of contour. The present study analyzed and compared for the first time the robustness of the contour analysis using wavelet transformed and Elliptic Fourier descriptors for gastropod shells including enlarged spines. For that, we analyzed two geographical and ecological separated populations of Bolinus brandaris from the NW Mediterranean Sea. Results showed that contour analysis of gastropod shells with enlarged spines can be analyzed using both methodologies, but the wavelet analysis provided a better local discrimination. From an ecological perspective, shells with spines of different sizes were observed in both localities suggesting a wide plasticity of the species, This paper is a result of the research project “Evaluación y seguimiento del Plan de Gestión de Dragas para Embarcación”, ref. AG-2016-233, funded by the Department of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food of the Government of Catalonia (Spain), With the funding support of the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S), of the Spanish Research Agency (AEI)

The feeding behavior of three species of mussels, the native Ischadium recurvum and the invasives Mytella charruana and Perna viridis, was studied in an invaded ecosystem in Florida (USA). In situ feeding experiments using the biodeposition method were performed along a salinity gradient in four different locations along the St. Johns River. Water characteristics, such as salinity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, and seston loads, were recorded to identify relationships between these variables and the feeding behavior of the mussels. Feeding behavior of the species varied by study site. Clearance, filtration, organic ingestion, and absorption rates of I. recurvum were negatively affected by salinity. For the invasive mussel, M. charruana, rejection was positively related to salinity while total ingestion, organic ingestion, and absorption rates were positively related to the percentage of organic matter in the seston. For P. viridis, total and organic ingestion rates were negatively affected by salinity but positively affected by total particulate matter. Condition indices for P. viridis and M. charruana were 13.16 ± 0.64 and 6.63 ± 0.43, respectively, compared to 4.82 ± 0.41 for the native species I. recurvum, indicating that these mussels are well adapted to the environmental conditions in the area. This study indicates that the three species have different preferred habitats because of their specific responses to water characteristics. Thus, the invasive mussels will not totally occupy the niche of the native mussel in Florida despite overlapping zones. These data may help identify potential invaded areas and understand the extent of the invasion.

9 pages, 5 figures, 3 tables, Parastichopus regalis is an epibenthic holothurian common in the Mediterranean Sea and the NE Atlantic, which feeds on the upper layer of the sediment playing a significant role on soft-bottom dynamics. Whether or not P. regalis is able to select the sediment ingested by size is the question of this study. For this purpose, a comparison between grain size distributions of the seabed sediments and the digestive contents of sea cucumbers were carried out. We performed the comparisons among sediment distributions through the median diameter and the granulometric dispersion D84/D16. The results showed that the size of the sediment within the holothurians was significantly smaller and more uniform than the ones in the seabed. Evidence showed that P. regalis select sediment by particle size during feeding, choosing the smaller particles. This finding reports novel information on the feeding behavior of this species, a fishery resource of local interest and importance in the Western Mediterranean region, This research has been supported through the LLONGO project (AGL2011-25382) financed by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation

8 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables, supplementary material https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2019.07.004, Fisheries are one of the main economic sectors affected by marine litter, which can damage gear, reduce catch, and require time to repair or clean nets. This study aims to evaluate the type and density of marine litter in two shallow fishing grounds in the NW Mediterranean Sea, both belonging to the Natura 2000 network. Moreover, it quantifies the fraction of marine litter within the total catch to help understand the potential influence of marine litter on fisheries. Two study areas were selected, one in the vicinity of urban populated areas and high navigational traffic and one in a rural site off an agricultural area. The urban area had more benthic marine litter (393 to 198 kg km) including clinker (residue from coal-burning steamships), fabric, plastics, and processed wood and accounting for up to 38% of the total catch. The rural area had far less marine litter (34–56 kg km), accounting for only 5% of the total catch. Marine litter may have potential negative effects on fisheries; thus we propose that government credit trading programs could be promoted to help recover litter from fishing catches, to reduce fishing costs and hazards to marine ecosystems, This paper is a result of the research project “Evaluación y seguimiento del Plan de Gestión de Dragas para Embarcación”, ref. AG-2016-233, funded by the Department d’Agricultura, Ramaderia i Pesca (Generalitat de Catalunya)

7 pages, 2 figures, 2 tables, supplementary data https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2020.107099, We built a simulation model based on Dynamic Energy Budget theory (DEB) to assess the growth and reproductive potential of the Manila clam Ruditapes philippinarum under different temperature and pH conditions, based on environmental values forecasted for the end of the 21st c. under climate change scenarios. The parameters of the DEB model were calibrated with the results of seasonal growth experiments under two levels of temperature (ambient and plus 2–3 °C) and three levels of pH (8.1 used as control and 7.7 and 7.3 representing acidification). The results showed that R. philippinarum is expected to have moderate growth in length or individual body mass (ultimate length and body weight would be larger than current values by 2–3%) when taking into account only the effect of temperature increase. However, acidification is likely to have a deleterious effect on growth, with a decrease of 2–5% length or body weight under the pH value of 7.7 forecasted for the end of the 21st c, or 10–15% under a more extreme scenario (pH = 7.3). However, the aggregated reproductive potential, integrated along a lifetime of 10 years, is likely to increase by 30% with temperature increase. Decreasing pH would impact negatively on reproductive potential, but in all simulations under warmer conditions, reproductive potential values were higher than current, suggesting that temperature increase would compensate losses due to acidification. The results are discussed in relation to their possible impact on aquaculture and fisheries of this important commercial bivalve, This research is part of the CERES project (European Commission H2020 Framework, contract nº 678193). The Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness contributed through the project AimCost CGL-2016-76332-R MINECO/FEDER/UE), With the funding support of the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S), of the Spanish Research Agency (AEI)

11 pages, 5 figures, 6 tables Astropecten species inhabit soft-bottom habitats worldwide, from intertidal areas to the deep sea. Sympatric Astropecten species (Astropecten aranciacus, Astropecten irregularis pentacanthus, Astropecten platyacanthus Astropecten jonstoni and Astropecten spinulosus) occur in the shallow coastal area of the Maresme coast (northwestern Mediterranean Sea). This study analyzes spatio-temporal differences in asteroidean population between the periods 2004–2006 and 2010–2011. Our results showed variations in density and spatial distribution in A. aranciacus, and a change in its diet between the two study periods. A. irregularis pentacanthus reduced its spatial distribution, concentrating in smaller areas. A. platyacanthus was absent in the first period but abundant in the second. A. jonstoni and A. spinulosus were scarce in the first period and absent in the second. The results also showed the specific habitat requirements for each sea star species with regard to sediment characteristics, prey availability and depth

As shellfish aquaculture moves from coastal embayments and estuaries to offshore locations, the need to quantify ecosystem interactions of farmed bivalves (i.e., mussels, oysters, and clams) presents new challenges. Quantitative data on the feeding behavior of suspension-feeding mollusks is necessary to determine important ecosystem interactions of offshore shellfish farms, including their carrying capacity, the competition with the zooplankton community, the availability of trophic resources at different depths, and the deposition to the benthos. The biodeposition method is used to quantify feeding variables in suspension-feeding bivalves in a natural setting and represents a more realistic proxy than laboratory experiments. This method, however, relies upon a stable platform to satisfy the requirements that water flow rates supplied to the shellfish remain constant and the bivalves are undisturbed. A flow-through device and process for using the biodeposition method to quantify the feeding of bivalve mollusks were modified from a land-based format for shipboard use by building a two-dimensional gimbal table around the device. Planimeter data reveal a minimal pitch and yaw of the chambers containing the test shellfish despite boat motion, the flow rates within the chambers remain constant, and operators are able to collect the biodeposits (feces and pseudofeces) with sufficient consistency to obtain accurate measurements of the bivalve clearance, filtration, selection, ingestion, rejection, and absorption at offshore shellfish aquaculture sites.

7 pages, 6 figures, 1 table, Interest in sea cucumber aquaculture is increasing worldwide for both consumption and ecological purposes. In the NW Mediterranean there is only one commercially exploited and edible sea cucumber, Parastichopus regalis, whose muscles are considered a culinary delicacy. With the aim to understand the potential for P. regalis to be grown in aquaculture facilities, we studied its resistance to the high temperature conditions that characterize the Mediterranean mariculture facilities. The immune response of adult P. regalis exposed to different temperatures (18 °C, 23 °C and 28 °C) was compared to the response to its natural environmental conditions (13 °C) during a 2-week period. Moreover, the immune response after a 1-week recovery period was also investigated. Mortality and coelomocyte characteristics and functions were analyzed, i.e. phagocytosis and dead coelomocytes. Results showed that 90% of the sea cucumbers exposed to 28 °C died before 48 h and at 23 °C they had 50% survivorship after 2 weeks of exposure. The proportion of coelomocyte types did not change during the study for animals exposed to 18 °C or 23 °C. Coelomocyte density increased throughout the experiment at 23 °C for sea cucumbers exposed to both control and high temperature. However, high temperature P. regalis exposed to 23 °C had significantly less phagocytic and dead coelomocytes during the two weeks of exposure. After a 1-week recovery period, the differences found between temperatures disappeared, except that the phagocytic capacity of the coelomocytes exposed to 23 °C was still lower than controls. In summary, P. regalis seems to have a maximum thermal tolerance below 23 °C, above which their survival is compromised. Thus, the use of P. regalis for aquaculture purposes should be constrained to areas where temperatures do not exceed 23 °C throughout the year, This research has been supported through the LLONGO project (AGL2011-25382) financed by the Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain

Joint Meeting of the Northeast Aquaculture Conference and Exposition and the 35th Milford Aquaculture Seminar, 14-16 January 2015, Portland, Maine

Summary: The smooth clam Callista chione is an Atlantic-Mediterranean species that is commercially exploited in several European countries. Several aspects of its reproduction were studied in a coastal location of the northwestern Mediterranean as a tool for sustainable fisheries management. Gonadal development was classified into 6 different stages, ranging from immature to degradation of the remaining sexual structures. Results showed that C. chione was able to reproduce throughout the year but a main spawning period occurred in spring. First records of hermaphrodites were found for this species. The mature spermatozoa measured 4.70±0.66 µm (without the flagellum), including a very short acrosome of 0.75±0.09 µm. The mid-piece of the spermatozoa had a mitochondrial sheath composed of five mitochondria. Ripe oocytes ranged from 60 to 80 µm in length. Size at first maturity (SL50) was estimated for the first time in a Mediterranean population, showing values of 30.26 mm in 2005-2006 but only 21.45 mm in 2014.

Shellfish aquaculture is gaining acceptance as a tool to reduce nutrient over enrichment in coastal and estuarine ecosystems through the feeding activity of the animals and assimilation of filtered particles in shellfish tissues. This ecosystem service, provided by the ribbed mussel (Geukensia demissa), was studied in animals suspended from a commercial mussel raft in the urban Bronx River Estuary, NY, in waters closed to shellfish harvest due to bacterial contamination. Naturally occurring populations of ribbed mussels were observed to be healthy and resilient in this highly urbanized environment. Furthermore, mussels grown suspended in the water column contained substantially lower concentrations of heavy metals and organic contaminants in their tissues than blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) collected at a nearby benthic site. Spat collection efforts from shore and within the water column were unsuccessful; this was identified as a key bottleneck to future large-scale implementation. Filtration experiments indicated that a fully stocked G. demissa raft would clear an average 1.2 × 10

The ribbed mussel (Geukensia demissa) is a keystone species in the salt marshes of the North American Atlantic coast. We investigated the clearance rates (CRs) and pathology of ribbed mussels exposed to cultures of two toxic algae,Aureococcus anophagefferens and Heterosigma akashiwo, for 5 d and contrasted the results with mussels fed the nontoxic alga Tetraselmis chui. We also conducted a separate, in vitro experiment in which we exposed extracted mussel haemocytes to the three different algae, their respective media and sea water, as a toxicity bioassay. Results show that mussels exposed to either of the toxic algae had significantly decreased CRs during the entire exposure period. Histopathology revealed thinner digestive tubules, gonad reabsorption and a decrease in gill ciliates in response to both toxic algal species. There was a significant increase in mortality of haemocytes exposed in vitro to both toxic algae compared with seawater controls. Results suggest that ribbed mussel feeding behaviour and physiology can be impacted in several ways by harmful algae, which could undermine their contribution to pelagic-benthic coupling processes.

It was with great excitement that we planned the combined meetings of Northeast Aquaculture Conference and Exposition (NACE) and the International Conference on Shellfish Restoration (ICSR) with the 33rd Milford Aquaculture Seminar (MAS). Bringing these different but complementary audiences together resulted in a meeting that combined many different aspects of fisheries restoration and aquaculture under one umbrella.Four hundred attendees including government representatives, research scientists, industry, and academia at both the university and vocational high school levels attended this event. The meeting commenced on Wednesday December 12th 2012, with over eighty people attending seven field trips to area aquaculture farms and research facilities. The formal program began on Thursday, December 13th with a plenary session including invited speakers Eric Schwabb, Acting Assistant Secretary for Conservation and Management at NOAA; Sebastian Belle, Executive Director of the Maine Aquaculture Association and Boze Hancock from the Nature Conservancy, who discussed the role of aquaculture in fisheries restoration. John Bullard, the Northeast Regional Administrator of NOAA Fisheries Service, addressed the group during the luncheon the following day. The technical papers and workshops presented were divided into 35 sessions over three days of the meeting and included topics such as the history of aquaculture, aquaculture hatchery innovations, siting and planning issues, risk management, aquaculture business management, ocean acidification, climate change, as well as aquaculture disease issues and potential remedies. Having persons present who have experienced problems and successes, along with those in manufacturing and government responsible for addressing concerns and sharing best practices, was invaluable. Discussions among this cross-section of persons who represent different aspects of aquaculture were as important as the well-presented and interesting formal papers and poster sessions. These discussions were facilitated by the many opportunities presented during the large trade show, reception, breaks, lunches, banquet and lobster bake held throughout the meeting.The importance of and need for aquaculture were made evident by all who were in attendance. We are grateful to the twenty four meeting sponsors and to all those who participated and made this such an important and memorable meeting.While oyster restoration efforts have been under way in the Chesapeake Bay for more than two decades, until recently, varying reporting methods and success criteria made it difficult to determine how much progress had been made. A goal to “Restore native oyster habitat and populations in 20 out of 35 to 40 candidate tributaries by 2025” was set in the 2010 strategy to implement the Chesapeake Bay Protection and Restoration Executive Order (signed by President Obama in 2009). This goal made it a priority for state and federal fishery managers, academics, and scientists working on oyster restoration to collaboratively define a “restored tributary” and a “restored reef” to enable them to track progress. A team of these people, led by NOAA staff, agreed on “oyster metrics” in 2011 (http//preview.tinyurl.com/8kmbdpm) that specify key metrics and target ranges for them, including tributary size, how to determine how much restorable bottom a tributary contains, how much of that restorable bottom needs to be restored, and the minimum oyster density and biomass in that restored bottom to count a tributary as restored. These new metrics enable experts to clearly see how oyster restoration efforts are working and use adaptive management to improve these efforts. These metrics serve as a tool to plan and evaluate oyster restoration consistently across the Chesapeake Bay, and the consensus-based framework used to develop them may have broader application to other restoration activities.In the past, oyster restoration in Maryland was performed primarily

13 pages, 10 figures, 1 table, The growth and reproductive biology of the sea star Astropecten aranciacus was investigated on the continental shelf of the northwestern Mediterranean Sea. Sea stars were captured monthly in two bathymetric ranges (5-30 and 50-150 m) between November 2009 and October 2012. Bathymetric segregation by size in A. aranciacus was detected: small individuals inhabit shallow areas (5-30 m), while large individuals inhabit deeper areas of the continental shelf (50-150 m). Recruitment was recorded twice nearshore but no recruitment was detected offshore during the whole study period. Three cohorts were identified in each bathymetric range and growth rates were estimated. A. aranciacus population exhibited a seasonal growth pattern, being higher from June to October in the nearshore cohorts and from February to October in the offshore ones. Histology and organ indices revealed that spawning likely started in March, coinciding with the spring phytoplankton bloom and the increase in sea water temperature, and extended until June-July. Ratio between males and females was approximately 1:1 throughout the year and in both bathymetrical ranges. The size at first maturity (R50 %) was estimated to be R = 112 mm. A. aranciacus did not show an inverse relationship between gonad index and pyloric caeca index.

The ribbed mussel (Geukensia demissa, Dillwyn 1817) is a dominant benthic filter-feeder in salt marshes along the North American Atlantic Coast. It has been proposed that the cultivation and harvest of ribbed mussels could be used to bioremediate the eutrophication of coastal waters. To accomplish this, mussels would be grown in suspension culture underwater, which is different than this species’ natural, intertidal habitat in which they are exposed to a tidal regime of submersion and emersion. To assess possible effects of constant submersion upon the feeding behavior of G. demissa, we quantified filter-feeding activities of ribbed mussels collected from either an intertidal location or a permanently submerged (2 months) population in the same embayment. Filtration measurements to determine clearance rates were conducted in aquaria containing ultra-filtered seawater with cultured phytoplankton. Results show that mussels taken from the intertidal population had significantly higher filtration than the submerged population initially, but after 3 days of submersion in the aquaria, this difference disappeared. Moreover, all experimental G. demissa had higher clearance rates during natural low tide than during natural high tide. These results indicate a potential for ribbed mussels to be grown in suspension culture for nutrient bioextraction purposes.

8 pages, 7 figures, 4 tables, The feeding behavior of the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis was investigated in the field on top of a mussel raft in Alfacs Bay, NW Mediterranean Sea. The experiments were performed in November 2006 and February, April and July 2007 using a flow-through filter feeding device. Total particulate matter (TPM), particulate organic matter (POM) and particulate inorganic matter (PIM) were calculated for the bay water, as well as the feces and pseudofeces of the mussels. These were used with the biodeposition method to estimate several feeding-physiological parameters, such as the clearance rate (CR), rejection rate through pseudofeces production (RP), organic ingestion rate (OIR), absorption rate (AR) and absorption efficiency (AE). The results showed that the characteristics of available suspended matter for mussels in terms of particle concentration (TPM: mg/l) and organic content (f defined as POM/TPM) ranged 1.03–2.30 mg/l, and 0.48 to 0.73 respectively throughout the study period. This indicates a rather stable feeding environment of low concentrations of high organic content particles despite the wide range of temperatures recorded (from 10 to 26 °C). However, a characteristic of such a variation pattern of particle suspension (TPM and f) was that short-term variations (in the course of days) covered the whole range of annual variation. Accordingly, physiological parameters characterizing both food acquisition and absorption in mussels were found to respond to short-term variations in food regime. Pseudofeces production in mussels was low (less than 5% in most cases) and they tended to reduce their clearance rate instead of increasing their pseudofeces production in response to rising particle concentration. The absorption efficiency was positively related to the organic content of the seston particles. There was also a positive correlation between clearance rate and absorption efficiency. The reduction of clearance, ingestion and absorption rates obtained in July highlights a negative influence of high water temperatures upon feeding and digestive processes of mussels, This study has been partially financed by the RTA04-023 INIA research project and the Centre de Referència en Aqüicultura of the Generalitat de Catalunya. The first author was supported by a grant co-financed by the Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA) and the Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentaria (IRTA)

Eight cases of disseminated neoplasia were found among 540 specimens of Mytilus edulis collected from an intertidal beach in Connecticut in western Long Island Sound. This was unusual, because disseminated neoplasia is very rare in M. edulis but causes epizootic mortalities in another mussel species, M. trossulus. According to histology, mussels showed a continuum of disease progression, from early stages with a few anaplastic cells around the stomach epithelium to more advanced cases with multiple foci of neoplastic cells in the tissues, finally to terminal cases with profuse infiltration of neoplastic cells in all tissues. Flowcytometric hemocyte analyses were performed to compare immune functions between neoplastic and healthy mussels. Circulating hemocytes from the neoplastic mussels showed significantly less phagocytosis and significantly more apo- ptosis than hemocytes from the healthy mussels. Hemocyte cell density measured by flow cytometry increased in the hemolymph with progression of the disease on histological sections. In situ hybridization was performed to detect apoptosis also on paraffin sections. There were more apoptotic neoplastic cells in the early stages of the disease than in the later stages. These observations suggest the need for further studies on apoptosis-regulating genes to explain differences in susceptibility to neoplasia of different Mytilus species, and the role of apoptosis in the progression of disseminated neoplasia.

10 pages, 8 figures, 1 table.-- Printed version published Aug 2008., Mussels (Mytilus edulis) were exposed to cultures of the toxic dinoflagellate Alexandrium fundyense or the non-toxic alga Rhodomonas sp. to evaluate the effects of the harmful alga on the mussels and to study recovery after discontinuation of the A. fundyense exposure. Mussels were exposed for 9 days to the different algae and then all were fed Rhodomonas sp. for 6 more days. Samples of hemolymph for hemocyte analyses and tissues for histology were collected before the exposure and periodically during exposure and recovery periods., Mussels filtered and ingested both microalgal cultures, producing fecal pellets containing degraded, partially degraded, and intact cells of both algae. Mussels exposed to A. fundyense had an inflammatory response consisting of degranulation and diapedesis of hemocytes into the alimentary canal and, as the exposure continued, hemocyte migration into the connective tissue between the gonadal follicles. Evidence of lipid peroxidation, similar to the detoxification pathway described for various xenobiotics, was found; insoluble lipofuchsin granules formed (ceroidosis), and hemocytes carried the granules to the alimentary canal, thus eliminating putative dinoflagellate toxins in feces. As the number of circulating hemocytes in A. fundyense-exposed mussels became depleted, mussels were immunocompromised, and pathological changes followed, i.e., increased prevalences of ceroidosis and trematodes after 9 days of exposure. Moreover, the total number of pathological changes increased from the beginning of the exposure until the last day (day 9). After 6 days of the exposure, mussels in one of the three tanks exposed to A. fundyense mass spawned; these mussels showed more severe effects of the toxic algae than non-spawning mussels exposed to A. fundyense., No significant differences were found between the two treatments during the recovery period, indicating rapid homeostatic processes in tissues and circulating hemocytes., This study has been supported by a grant from the Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA) to the first author and partially financed by the RTA04- 023 INIA research project.

6 pages, 1 figures, 2 tables, In 2011-12, a field study demonstrated that ribbed mussels from two locations in the north-east Atlantic Coast of the USA used different feeding strategies to adapt to widely differing seston characteristics and achieve the same absorption efficiency. To investigate whether there was local, genetic adaptation of mussels in the two contrasting sites, we conducted a transplant experiment in 2012 in which mussels were moved from the high-plankton, low-inorganic waters of Milford Harbor, CT, to the high-inorganic, low-plankton waters of Hunts Point, Bronx, NY. Results showed that mussels from Milford adapted to the new, poorer-quality seston within 6 days of submersion in Hunts Point waters, which indicates that phenotypic plasticity in the species is sufficient to account for adaptability of the ribbed mussel to Hunts Point conditions. This adaptability makes the ribbed mussel a good candidate for environmental remediation technologies, such as nutrient bioextraction. © 2015 CSIRO, This work was partially supported by a Research Associateship to the first author from the National Research Council with funding from Dr Michael Rubino of the NOAA National Aquaculture Program

11 pages, 10 figures, 4 tables, Bivalves are considered key species in many marine communities and the decline of their populations usually causes changes in the structure of the ecosystems. The aim of the present study was to investigate changes in the spatial distribution and population structure of an exploited shellfish bed of Callista chione at a location of the northwestern Mediterranean Sea and analyse its potential causes. To this end field surveys for the years 2004 and 2010 covering the whole distribution area of the species were performed and all historical data on commercial landings, clam biomass and density, and locations and volume of dredged sand for beach nourishment were compiled. Results showed that the distribution had been hugely reduced, showing a sharp decline in density and biomass and a decrease in the mean population size in 2010. Our results confirm that the species is a slow-growing bivalve that is highly vulnerable to disturbances prolonged in time. Persistent sand dredging operations since 1987 have gradually reduced the distribution area of the smooth clam to the northeastern part of the clam bed. Consequently, fishing activity has concentrated on a smaller area, thus increasing the fishing effort in the northern part. Therefore, the results clearly suggest that the decline of C. chione bed was mainly caused by the interaction of two coastal uses: sand dredging and clam fisheries. Based on this study, some management guidelines are proposed, This paper is a result of the research project “Avaluació de l’estat del banc natural de petxina lluenta del Maresme” (Evaluation of the condition of the smooth clam bed in the Maresme) funded by the Department d’Agricultura, Ramaderia i Pesca (Generalitat de Catalunya) and the Dirección General de Costas (Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente)

5 pages, 5 figures, Alfacs Bay is a N.W. Mediterranean estuary important for mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis) aquaculture. During studies at the site, fiberglass particles were detected. The presence of fiberglass occurred naturally in the water throughout the study period (November 2006 to July 2007). An investigation was undertaken into its role in the feeding behavior of the local mussels. Fiberglass was present in all types of mussel samples. Rejection, which we would have expected for the whole study period, was only evident during the second season studied. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the ingestion of fiberglass by a marine organism. Our novel finding indicates the need to investigate fiberglass ingestion by marine organisms at different levels of the food web and the possible implications for human health and the health of the organisms themselves. In addition, we propose the use of mussels as sentinel organisms to monitor fiberglass contamination in marine ecosystems. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved, This study was supported by a grant from the Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA) awarded to the first author and partially financed by research project RTA04-023 INIA

The harmful dinoflagellate Prorocentrum minimum has different effects upon various species of grazing bivalves, and these effects also vary with life-history stage. Possible effects of this dinoflagellate upon mussels have not been reported; therefore, experiments exposing adult blue mussels, Mytilus edulis, to P. minimum were conducted. Mussels were exposed to cultures of toxic P. minimum or benign Rhodomonas sp. in glass aquaria. After a short period of acclimation, samples were collected on day 0 (before the exposure) and after 3, 6, and 9 days of continuous-exposure experiment. Hemolymph was extracted for flow-cytometric analyses of hemocyte, immune-response functions, and soft tissues were excised for histopathology. Mussels responded to P. minimum exposure with diapedesis of hemocytes into the intestine, presumably to isolate P. minimum cells within the gut, thereby minimizing damage to other tissues. This immune response appeared to have been sustained throughout the 9-day exposure period, as circulating hemocytes retained hematological and functional properties. Bacteria proliferated in the intestines of the P. minimum-exposed mussels. Hemocytes within the intestine appeared to be either overwhelmed by the large number of bacteria or fully occupied in the encapsulating response to P. minimum cells; when hemocytes reached the intestine lumina, they underwent apoptosis and bacterial degradation. This experiment demonstrated that M. edulis is affected by ingestion of toxic P. minimum; however, the specific responses observed in the blue mussel differed from those reported for other bivalve species. This finding highlights the need to study effects of HABs on different bivalve species, rather than inferring that results from one species reflect the exposure responses of all bivalves.

The Atlantic ribbed mussel, Geukensia demissa, is found in salt marshes along the North American Atlantic Coast. As a first step to study the possibility of future cultivation and harvest of ribbed mussels for nutrient removal from eutrophic urban environments, the feeding behavior of ribbed mussels in situ was studied from July to October 2011. Two locations approximately 80 km apart were used as study sites: Milford Harbor (Connecticut; 41°12′42.46″N, 73°3′7.75″W) and Hunts Point (Bronx, New York; 40°48′5.99″N, 73°52′17.76″W). Total particulate matter was higher at Hunts Point than at Milford Harbor, but the organic content was higher at Milford than at Hunts Point. The relatively low quantity of organic content in Hunts Point seston resulted in a much higher production of pseudofeces by mussels. Mussel clearance and absorption rates were higher at Milford Harbor than at Hunts Point. Nevertheless, mussels at both sites had the same absorption efficiency, suggesting that mussels are able to adapt to conditions at both locations. Ribbed mussels decreased clearance rate when the seston quantity was high at both sites. At Hunts Point, ribbed mussels increased the gut transit time of ingested particles when the amount of inorganic particulates in the water increased. This study does not quantify nutrient removal capacity of G. demissa; however, the environmental tolerance demonstrated here, and current lack of commercial harvest, suggests that this species may be a good candidate for nutrient bioextraction in highly impacted urban environments.