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Gill pump characteristics of the soft clamMya arenaria

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Abstract

Pumping rates in the soft clamMya arenaria, collected in June 1987 in the Great Belt, Denmark, were determined as rates at which clams cleared suspensions of algae,Dunaliella marina. The frictional resistance of the siphons to water flow was estimated by studying the effect of excision of the siphons at the base on the rate of water pumping. The frictional resistance was also calculated from the Poiseuille equation. Excision of the siphons had no measurable effect on the pumping rate, and calculations indicated pressure losses ranging between 0.3 to 1.2 mm H2O. This is consistent with the conception that the capacity of filter feeding bivalves to process large amounts of water depends upon a low resistance to water flow in the siphons.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Zoophysiological Laboratory A, August Krogh Institute, Universitetsparken 13, DK-2100, Copenhagen Ø, Denmark

    C. B. Jørgensen

  2. Biological Institute, University of Odense, Campusvej 55, DK-5230, Odense M, Denmark

    H. U. Riisgård

Authors
  1. C. B. Jørgensen
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  2. H. U. Riisgård
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Communicated by T. M. Fenchel, Helsingør

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Jørgensen, C.B., Riisgård, H.U. Gill pump characteristics of the soft clamMya arenaria . Mar. Biol. 99, 107–109 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00644983

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00644983

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