Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-4rdrl Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-20T15:37:34.091Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Partial Emergence of the Bivalve Donax Vittatus in Response to Abrupt Changes in Light Intensity and before Spawning

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

Alan D. Ansell ,
Carmen-Pia Günther  and
Michael T. Burrows
Alan D. Ansell
Affiliation:
Centre for Coastal and Marine Sciences, Dunstaffnage Marine Laboratory, Oban, PA34 4AD, Scotland.
Carmen-Pia Günther
Affiliation:
Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany
Michael T. Burrows
Affiliation:
Centre for Coastal and Marine Sciences, Dunstaffnage Marine Laboratory, Oban, PA34 4AD, Scotland.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Buried individuals of the bivalve Donax vittatus (Bivalvia: Donacidae) respond to change in incident light intensity by adjusting their position in the sediment. Video recordings of activity in aquarium tanks in natural daylight revealed that individuals responded to shading by moving upwards, causing some to partially emerge from the sand. Subsequent removal of the shading stimulated reburial to the normal position. Recordings in laboratory aquaria show similar upward movement and partial emergence occurring when illumination in the visible range is switched off. Upward movement and partial emergence of D. vittatus has also been observed to take place prior to spawning.

Type
Short Communications
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 78 , Issue 2 , May 1998 , pp. 669 - 672
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1998

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ansell, A.D., 1994. In situ activity of the sandy beach bivalve Donax vittatus (Bivalvia, Donacidae) in relation to potential predation risks. Ethology Ecology and Evolution, 6, 43–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Charles, G.H., 1966. Sense organs (less cephalopods). In Physiology of Mollusca, vol. 2. (ed. K.M., Wilbur and C.M., Yonge), pp. 455–521. New York: Academic Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Richardson, C.A., Ibarrola, I. & Ingham, R.J., 1993. Emergence pattern and spatial distribution of the common cockle Cerastoderma edule. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 99, 71–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar