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Variation in scope for growth: a test of food limitation among intertidal mussels

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Abstract

Wellington Harbour supports large populations of the mussels Aulacomya maoriana, Mytilus galloprovincialis and Perna canaliculus that are almost entirely absent from nearby coastal locations in Cook Strait. We calculated scope for growth (SFG) using ambient Cook Strait water over a broad temporal scale and a broad range of seston conditions to determine if negative SFG explains this phenomenon. Although all three mussel species had positive mean SFG values, variation in SFG was high and negative values often occurred: A. maoriana 19.1 J g−1 h−1, 43% of mussels showed negative SFG; M. galloprovincialis 1.26, 52% negative SFG; P. canaliculus 45.6, 27% negative SFG. Negative SFG was most often due to negative absorption efficiency caused by metabolic faecal loss that is characteristic of mussels feeding in environments with low seston quality. From our ecophysiology data we constructed a model to estimate SFG based on physiological responses to the narrow range of seston conditions typical of Cook Strait (Model One), and a model to estimate SFG based on physiological responses of mussels to the broad range of seston conditions typical of Wellington Harbour and Cook Strait (Model Two). We used seston data collected over an 18-month period from sites in Wellington Harbour and Cook Strait to derive 159 estimates of species-specific mussel SFG from both models. Both models produced higher estimates of SFG for mussels in the Harbour compared with those at Cook Strait sites. This was consistent with elevated particulate concentrations in the Harbour than at Cook Strait sites, and in agreement with previous studies. For Cook Strait mussels, both models produced negative estimates of net energy balance for long periods of time (several months), whereas for Harbour mussels negative SFG estimates were generally short in duration. We conclude that our short-term laboratory-based determinations of SFG and our long-term bioenergetics modelling estimates do not conclusively support the hypothesis of food limitation for three coexisting taxa of mussels in the intertidal region of Cook Strait, New Zealand.

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Acknowledgements

We thank R J Williamson for help with field work and R J Thompson for his comments on the manuscript. This research was supported by funding from the Island Bay Marine Laboratory of Victoria University of Wellington and from the New Zealand Lotteries Grant Board (grant SR 30991) to JPAG.

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  1. Jeremy G. Helson

    Present address: Deepwater and National Issues, Ministry of Fisheries, PO Box 1020, Wellington, New Zealand

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  1. Island Bay Marine Laboratory and Centre for Marine Environmental & Economic Research, School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600, Wellington, New Zealand

    Jeremy G. Helson & Jonathan P. A. Gardner

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  1. Jeremy G. Helson
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Correspondence to Jeremy G. Helson.

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Helson, J.G., Gardner, J.P.A. Variation in scope for growth: a test of food limitation among intertidal mussels. Hydrobiologia 586, 373–392 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-007-0711-9

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