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Environmental influence on calcification of the bivalve Chamelea gallina along a latitudinal gradient in the Adriatic Sea.

Authors :
Mancuso A
Stagioni M
Prada F
Scarponi D
Piccinetti C
Goffredo S
Source :
Scientific reports [Sci Rep] 2019 Aug 01; Vol. 9 (1), pp. 11198. Date of Electronic Publication: 2019 Aug 01.
Publication Year :
2019

Abstract

Environmental factors are encoded in shells of marine bivalves in the form of geochemical properties, shell microstructure and shell growth rate. Few studies have investigated how shell growth is affected by habitat conditions in natural populations of the commercial clam Chamelea gallina. Here, skeletal parameters (micro-density and apparent porosity) and growth parameters (bulk density, linear extension and net calcification rates) were investigated in relation to shell sizes and environmental parameters along a latitudinal gradient in the Adriatic Sea (400 km). Net calcification rates increased with increasing solar radiation, sea surface temperature and salinity and decreasing Chlorophyll concentration in immature and mature shells. In immature shells, which are generally more porous than mature shells, enhanced calcification was due to an increase in bulk density, while in mature shells was due to an increase in linear extension rates. The presence of the Po river in the Northern Adriatic Sea was likely the main driver of the fluctuations observed in environmental parameters, especially salinity and Chlorophyll concentration, and seemed to negatively affect the growth of C. gallina.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
2045-2322
Volume :
9
Issue :
1
Database :
MEDLINE
Journal :
Scientific reports
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
31371745
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-47538-1