Abstract
Pumping rates in undisturbed suspension-feeding bivalves were measured with a thermistor microflowmeter. Pumping rates are related to the dry weight of Clinocardium nuttallii, Macoma nasuta, Mytilus californianus and Chlamys hastata as the following equations: P=0.85 W0.84, P=0.23 W0.855, P=2.216 W0.715, and P=2.419 W0.943 respectively. Pumping rate and gill area increase at the same rate in C. nuttallii, M. californianus and C. hastata. The pumping rate per unit gill area is highest for C. nuttallii (approximately 0.14 cm3/s/cm2), with intermediate values for M. californianus (∼0.08 cm3/s/cm2) and C. hastata (∼0.11 cm3/s/cm2); the lowest rate was found in the deposit-feeder M. nasuta (∼0.0057 to 0.0089 cm3/s/cm2), which also has the smallest gill to body weight. C. nuttallii has the relatively smallest gill of the suspension feeders and the highest pumping rate per unit gill area. The absolute pumping rates, however, were highest for the filibranchs M. californianus and C. hastata. Indications are given that these differences are the results of different fluid-mechanical/ecological strategies to minimize the cost-benefit ratio.
Similar content being viewed by others
Literature cited
Atkins, D.: On the ciliary mechanisms and interrelationships of lamellibranchs. I. New observations on sorting mechanisms. Q. J. microsc. Sci 79, 181–306 (1936)
Atkins, D.: On the ciliary mechanisms and interrelationships of lamellibranchs. II. Sorting devices on gills. Q. J. microsc. Sci. 79, 339–370 (1937a)
Atkins, D.: On the ciliary mechanisms and interrelationships of lamellibranchs. III. Types of lamellibranch gills and their food currents. Q. J. microsc. Sci. 79, 375–419 (1937b)
Bayne, B. L., C. J. Bayne, T. C. Carefoot and R. J. Thompson: The physiological ecology of Mytilus californianus Conrad. Oecologia 22, 211–228 (1976)
Fiala-Médioni, A.: Filter-feeding ethology of benthic invertebrates (Ascidians). III. Recording of water currents in situ-rate and rhythm of pumping. Mar. Biol. 45, 185–190 (1978a)
Fiala-Médioni, A.: Filter-feeding ethology of benthic invertebrates (Ascidians). V. Pumping rate, filtration rate, filtration efficiency. Mar. Biol. 48, 243–249 (1978b)
Foster-Smith, R. L.: The effect of concentration of suspension on the filtration rates and pseudofaecal production for Mytilus edulis L., Cerastoderma edule (L.) and Venerupis pullastra. J. exp. mar. Biol. Ecol. 17, 1–22 (1975)
Fox, D. L., H. V. Sverdrup and J. P. Cunningham: The rate of water propulsion by the Californian mussel. Biol. Bull. mar. biol. Lab., Woods Hole 72, 417–422 (1937)
Jørgensen, C. B.: Biology of suspension feeding, 357 pp. London: Pergamon Press 1966
Jørgensen, C. B.: A hydromechanical principal for particle retention in Mytilus edulis and other ciliary suspension feeders. Mar. Biol. 61, 277–282 (1981)
Jørgensen, C. B.: Fluid mechanics of the mussel gill: the lateral cilia. Mar. Biol. 70, 275–281 (1982)
Jørgensen, C. B.: Fluid mechanical aspects of suspension feeding. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 11, 89–103 (1983)
LaBarbera, M.: Particle capture by a Pacific brittle star: experimental test of the aerosol suspension-feeding model. Science, N.Y. 201, 1147–1149 (1978)
LaBarbera, M.: Water flow patterns in and around three species of articulate brachiopods. J. exp. mar. Biol. Ecol. 55, 185–206 (1981)
LaBarbera, M.: Feeding currents and particle capture mechanisms in suspension-feeding animals. Am. Zool. 24, 71–84 (1984)
LaBarbera, M. and S. Vogel: An inexpensive thermistor flowmeter for aquatic biology. Limnol. Oceanogr. 21, 750–756 (1976)
Møhleuberg, F. and H. U. Riisgård: Filtration rate, using a new indirect technique, in 13 species of suspension-feeding bivalves. Mar. Biol. 54, 143–147 (1979)
Owen, R.: Studies on the gill of Mytilus edulis; the eulateral-frontal cirri. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 187, 83–91 (1974)
Reiswig, H. M.: In situ pumping activities of tropical Demospongiae. Mar. Biol. 9, 38–50 (1971)
Rohlf, F. J. and R. R. Sokal: Statistical tables, 253 pp. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman and Company 1969
Rubenstein, D. I. and M. A. R. Koehl: The mechanism of filter feeding: some theoretical considerations. Am. Nat. 111, 981–994 (1977)
Stasek, C. R.: The ciliation and function of the labial palps of Acila castrensis. Proc. Zool. Soc. London 137, 511–538 (1961)
Stasek, C. R.: The molluscan framework. In: Chemical zoology, Vol. VII, pp 1–44. Ed. by M. Florkin and B. T. Scheer. New York: Academic Press 1972
Strathmann, R. R.: Cinefilms of particle capture by an induced local change of beat of lateral cilia of a bryozoan. J. exp. mar. Biol. Ecol. 62, 225–236 (1982)
Strathmann, R. R.: Filter-feeding behavior of planktotrophic echinoderm larvae: mechanisms, regulation and rates of suspension feeding. J. exp. mar. Biol. Ecol. 6, 109–160 (1971)
Strathmann, R. R.: Function of lateral cilia in suspension-feeding of lophophorates (Brachiopoda, Phoronida, Ectoprocta). Mar. Biol. 23, 129–136 (1973)
Strathmann, R. R.: Larval feeding in echinoderms. Am. Zool. 15, 717–730 (1975)
Vahl, O.: Pumping and oxygen consumption rates of Mytilus edulis L. of different sizes. Ophelia 12, 45–52 (1973)
Vogel, S.: Current-induced flow through sponges in situ. Proc. natl Acad. Sci. USA 74, 2069–2071 (1977)
Vogel, S.: Life in moving fluids. The physical biology of flow. 352 pp. Boston: Willard Grant Press 1981
Walne, P. R.: The influence of current speed, body size and water temperature on the filtration rate of five species of bivalves. J. mar. biol. Ass. U.K. 52, 354–374 (1972)
Winter, J. E.: The filtration rate of Mytilus edulis and its dependence on algal concentration, measured by a continuous automatic apparatus. Mar. Biol. 22, 317–328 (1973)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Communicated by J. M. Shick, Orono
Contribution No. 132 of the Marine Science and Maritime Studies Center, Northeastern University
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Meyhöfer, E. Comparative pumping rates in suspension-feeding bivalves. Mar. Biol. 85, 137–142 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00397432
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00397432