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Differential ingestion of zooplankton by four species of bivalves (Mollusca) in the Mali Ston Bay, Croatia

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Abstract

This study provides information about differences in composition of ingested zooplankton amongst bivalve species coexisting in the same area in a period from May 2009 to December 2010. The study was conducted at the Mali Ston Bay (42°51′ N, 17°40′ E)—the most important bivalve aquaculture area in the eastern Adriatic Sea. Stomach content analysis was performed on cultured species—Ostrea edulis and Mytilus galloprovincialis, and commercially important bivalve species from their natural environment—Modiolus barbatus and Arca noae. Results confirmed carnivory in bivalves, both from natural and cultured populations, but cultured species had higher numbers of zooplankters than those living on the seabed. The most abundant taxa were bivalve larvae, followed by tintinnids, copepods, unidentified eggs and gastropod larvae. Recorded numbers of bivalve larvae in M. galloprovincialis stomach were the highest so far reported and show that mussels impact the availability of natural spat.

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Acknowledgments

This research was financed with support from the Croatian ‘Unity Through Knowledge’ Grant 3A “Bivalve feeding, competition and predation – what is at play” under a grant programme designed to support young researchers. UKF had no direct involvement in study design, collection, analysis and interpretation of data, or in the writing of the manuscript. Permission for publishing this material was obtained from the funding organization. The authors are grateful to Maro Franušić, Nela Sinjkević, Margita Radman, Marija Crnčević, Ivana Jurić and Ivana Bušelić for technical assistance with sample collection.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, Šetalište Ivana Meštrovića 63, 21000, Split, Croatia

    Melita Peharda, Daria Ezgeta-Balić, Natalia Bojanić, Olja Vidjak & Živana Ninčević-Gladan

  2. School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University College Cork, North Mall Campus, Distillery Fields, Cork, Ireland

    John Davenport

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  1. Melita Peharda
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  2. Daria Ezgeta-Balić
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  3. John Davenport
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  4. Natalia Bojanić
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  6. Živana Ninčević-Gladan
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Correspondence to Daria Ezgeta-Balić.

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Communicated by P. Kraufvelin.

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Peharda, M., Ezgeta-Balić, D., Davenport, J. et al. Differential ingestion of zooplankton by four species of bivalves (Mollusca) in the Mali Ston Bay, Croatia. Mar Biol 159, 881–895 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-011-1866-5

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