Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T13:38:29.776Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Further studies on the effects of stress in the adult on the eggs of Mytilus edulis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

B. L Bayne
Affiliation:
Institute for Marine Environmental Research, Prospect Place, The Hoe, Plymouth
D. L. Holland
Affiliation:
† N.E.R.C. Unit for Marine Invertebrate Biology, Marine Science Laboratories, Menai Bridge, Gwynedd
M. N. Moore
Affiliation:
Institute for Marine Environmental Research, Prospect Place, The Hoe, Plymouth
D. M. Lowe
Affiliation:
Institute for Marine Environmental Research, Prospect Place, The Hoe, Plymouth
J. Widdows
Affiliation:
Institute for Marine Environmental Research, Prospect Place, The Hoe, Plymouth

Extract

Mussels (Mytilus edulis L.) were held under five different experimental conditions for 8 weeks during which measurements of physiological condition, and certain cytological and cytochemical observations, were made. The mussels were then induced to spawn and the numbers of eggs released, the weights of these eggs, and their biochemical composition, were determined. During the experiment new gametes were developed by mussels under all conditions, but there was also a simultaneous regression and resorption of previously formed gametes, particularly in mussels under the greatest stress from high temperature and lack of food. The degree of stress experienced by the animals was measured as the scope for growth, or the energy available for somatic growth and the production of gametes. The distribution and activity of lysosomal enzymes within the Leydig tissue of the mantle suggested that autolysis of these cells occurred, coupled to the mobilization of glycogen for gametogenesis. Mussels under stress produced fewer and smaller eggs, in smaller follicles, than mussels not under stress. The biochemical composition of the eggs (as µg of biochemical component per mg of egg) did not vary consistently with adult condition, but eggs from stressed females had less lipid and protein than eggs from normal females. It is suggested that these relationships between the physiological condition of the adult, gametogenesis, fecundity and the biochemical content of the eggs are important for understanding the impact of the environment on ecological fitness.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1978

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Bayne, B. L., 1972. Some effects of stress in the adult on the larval development of Mytilus edulis. Nature, London, 237, 459.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bayne, B. L., Gabbott, P. A. & Widdows, J., 1975. Some effects of stress in the adult on the eggs and larvae of Mytilus edulis L. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 55, 675689.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bayne, B. L. & Scullard, C., 1977. Rates of nitrogen excretion by species of Mytilus (Bivalvia: Mollusca). Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 57, 355369.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bayne, B. L. & Scullard, C., 1978. Rates of feeding by Thais (Nucella) lapillus (L.) Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 32, 113129.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bayne, B. L. & Widdows, J., 1978. The physiological ecology of two populations of Mytilus edulis L. Oecologia. (In the Press.)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bayne, B. L., Widdows, J. & Newell, R. I. E., 1977. Physiological measurements on estuarine bivalve molluscs in the field. In Biology of Benthic Organisms (ed. Keegan, B. F., Ceidigh, P. O. and Boaden, P. J. S.), pp. 5768. New York: Pergamon Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Briarty, L. G., 1975. Stereology: methods for quantitative light and electron microscopy. Science Progress, 62, 132.Google ScholarPubMed
Conover, R. J., 1966. Assimilation of organic matter by zooplankton. Limnology and Oceanography 11, 338354CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crisp, D. J., 1975. The role of the pelagic larva. In Perspectives in Experimental Biology, vol. 1 (ed. Davies, P. Spencer), pp. 145155. Oxford: Pergamon Press.Google Scholar
Elias, H., Hennig, A. & Schwartz, D. E., 1971. Stereology: applications to biomedical research. Physiological Reviews, 51, 158200.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ericsson, J. L. E., 1969. Mechanism of cellular autophagy. In Lysosomes in Biology and Pathology, vol. 2 (ed. Dingle, J. T. and Fell, H. B.), pp. 345394. Amsterdam, London and New York: North Holland/American Elsevier.Google Scholar
Freer, R. H., 1967. Stereologic techniques in microscopy. Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society, 87, 2534.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gabbott, P. A., 1976. Energy metabolism. In Marine Mussels: Their Ecology and Physiology (ed. Bayne, B. L.), pp. 293355. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Helm, M. M., Holland, D. L. & Stephenson, R. R., 1973. The effect of supplementary algal feeding of a hatchery breeding stock of Ostrea edulis L. on larval vigour. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 53, 673684.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holland, D. L. & Gabbott, P. A., 1971. A micro-analytical scheme for the determination of protein, carbohydrate, lipid and RNA levels in marine invertebrate larvae. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 51, 659668.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holland, D. L. & Hannant, P. J., 1973. Addendum to a microanalytical scheme for the biochemical analysis of marine invertebrate larvae. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 53, 833838.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moore, M. N., 1976. Cytochemical demonstration of latency of lysosomal hydrolases in digestive cells of the common mussel, Mytilus edulis, and changes induced by thermal stress. Cell and Tissue Research, 175, 279287.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ockelmann, K. W., 1965. Developmental types in marine bivalves and their distribution along the Atlantic coast of Europe. In Proceedings of the First European Malacological Congress, London, 1962 (ed. Cox, L. R. and Peake, J. F.), pp. 2535. London: Conchological Society of Great Britain and Ireland and the Malacological Society of London.Google Scholar
Pearse, A. G. E., 1972. Histochemistry, Theoretical and Applied, vol. 2. 7611518 pp. London: Churchill Livingstone.Google Scholar
Solorzano, L., 1969. Determination of ammonia in natural waters by the phenolhypochlorite method. Limnology and Oceanography, 14, 799801.Google Scholar
Strathmann, R. & Vedder, K., 1977. Size and organic content of eggs of echinoderms and other invertebrates as related to developmental strategies and egg eating. Marine Biology, 39, 305309.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thompson, R. J., 1978. Fecundity and reproductive effort in the blue mussel (Mytilus edulis), the sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis) and the snow crab (Chiondecetes opilio) populations in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada. (In the Press.)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thompson, R. J., Ratcliffe, N. A. & Bayne, B. L., 1974. Effects of starvation on structure and function in the digestive gland of the mussel (Mytilus edulis L.). Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 54, 699712.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vance, R. R., 1973. On reproductive strategies in marine benthic invertebrates. American Naturalist, 107, 339352.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weibel, E. R. & Elias, H., 1967. Quantitative Methods in Morphology. 267 pp. Berlin-Heidelberg-New York: Springer-Verlag.Google Scholar
Weibel, E. R., Kistler, G. S. & Scherle, W. F., 1966. Practical stereological methods for morphometric cytology. Journal of Cell Biology, 30, 2338.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed