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Influence of an intermittent food supply on energy storage by the subpolar deposit feeder Yoldia hyperborea (Bivalvia: Nuculanidae)

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Abstract

Food supply for deposit feeders varies from highly seasonal phytodetritus to a steady source of older organic matter, resulting in contrasting patterns of nutrient uptake and storage. To identify patterns in energy storage and feeding behaviour driven by different food conditions for the circumpolar deposit-feeding protobranch bivalve Yoldia hyperborea, we measured variations in cytological (digestive cell height) and biochemical (lipid class, fatty acid, glycogen, and protein content) components during controlled experiments. Three treatments with organisms in sediment with high refractory organic matter (12 % OM) were exposed to different feeding regimes resembling (a) the annual spring bloom settlement, (b) low food availability during winter, and (c) sporadic resuspension events. Yoldia exposed to a diatom-supplemented diet showed significantly higher mean values for digestive cell height (28.44 μm), glycogen (30.4 mg g−1 dry mass, DM), diatom-specific fatty acids, and total lipid (TL) levels (14.4 mg g−1 DM), but lower protein concentrations, than in non-supplemented treatments (digestive cell height 20.34 μm; glycogen 9.23 mg g−1 DM; TL 6.7 mg g−1 DM). All analyses showed no effect of resuspension events; thus, it was unlikely that resuspension improved sediment nutritional value. In the absence of recently deposited diatoms, Y. hyperborea did not increase nutrient storage, suggesting that significant amounts of older refractory OM are not used for growth or reproduction. The rapid storage of nutrients derived from diatoms demonstrates the role of seasonal episodic events of settling algae in the nutrition of subpolar Y. hyperborea and in the transfer of energy from the water column to the benthos.

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Abbreviations

AMPL:

Acetone-mobile polar lipids

BAFA:

Bacterial fatty acids

C/N:

Carbon-to-nitrogen ratio

DM:

Dry mass

FAME:

Fatty acid methyl esters

MUFA:

Monounsaturated fatty acids

PUFA:

Polyunsaturated fatty acids

OC:

Organic carbon

ON:

Organic nitrogen

SAFA:

Saturated fatty acids

SD:

Standard deviation

TAG:

Triacylglycerol

TFA:

Total fatty acid

TL:

Total lipid

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Acknowledgments

We thank the crew of the RV ‘Karl and Jackie’ for their help during the collection of specimens, and J. Deveraux, D. Au, and D. Whitten for their technical assistance with the refrigerated holding tanks. We thank P. Snelgrove, D. Deibel, and G. Lopez for their valuable input during discussion and C.C. Parrish for help with the lipid analyses. This work was funded by an NSERC Research grant (to R.J.T.), an NSERC collaborative grant (to R.J.T. et al.), and CIDA/MUN scholarships (to R.A.S. and S.V.P.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Medio Ambiente, Universidad de Los Lagos, Casilla 557, Puerto Montt, Chile

    R. A. Stead

  2. Department of Zoology and Entomology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, 6140, South Africa

    N. B. Richoux

  3. Centro ‘I-Mar’, Universidad de Los Lagos, Casilla 557, Puerto Montt, Chile

    S. V. Pereda

  4. Ocean Sciences Centre, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL, A1C 5S7, Canada

    S. V. Pereda & R. J. Thompson

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  1. R. A. Stead
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  2. N. B. Richoux
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  4. R. J. Thompson
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Correspondence to R. A. Stead.

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Stead, R.A., Richoux, N.B., Pereda, S.V. et al. Influence of an intermittent food supply on energy storage by the subpolar deposit feeder Yoldia hyperborea (Bivalvia: Nuculanidae). Polar Biol 36, 1333–1345 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-013-1353-1

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