Friday Harbor Laboratories, Department of Biology, University of Washington, Friday Harbor, WA 98250, USA.
Integr Comp Biol. 2008 Dec;48(6):801-7. doi: 10.1093/icb/icn078. Epub 2008 Jul 31.
Mussels rely on a strong byssal attachment to persist in a range of habitats with differing rates of water flow. Recent studies, however, suggest that the ability of one mussel species to sense and respond adaptively to the flow in its environment is limited under even modest flow conditions because the process of byssal thread formation is disrupted. This study extends these findings to four mussel species, Mytilus trossulus, M. galloprovincialis, M. californianus, and Modiolus modiolus. Collectively, the response of byssal thread formation decreased with rates of flow above ∼25 cm/s and the critical flow threshold was estimated to be <50 cm/s. How can mussels persist on shores where flow is an order of magnitude higher? Using a combination of techniques for measuring flow, velocity profiles were obtained above and within mussel aggregations in the laboratory and in the field. Flow was greatly reduced within mussel aggregations, ranging from 0.1% to 10% of free-stream velocity. These results suggest one key to the success of mussels in habitats with high rates of flow is the ability to form aggregations that ameliorate flows to a level that is conducive to byssal thread formation.
贻贝依靠强壮的足丝附着在水流速度不同的各种栖息地中。然而，最近的研究表明，在适度的水流条件下，一种贻贝物种感知和适应环境中水流的能力是有限的，因为足丝形成的过程受到干扰。本研究将这些发现扩展到了贻贝的四个物种，即厚壳贻贝、欧洲贻贝、加利福尼亚贻贝和无齿厚壳贻贝。总的来说，足丝形成的反应随着流速超过约 25 cm/s 而下降，临界流速阈值估计小于 50 cm/s。贻贝如何在流速高出一个数量级的海岸上生存呢？该研究使用了一种测量流速的组合技术，在实验室和野外获得了贻贝群集上方和内部的流速剖面。流速在贻贝群集内大大降低，范围从自由流速度的 0.1%到 10%。这些结果表明，贻贝在流速较高的栖息地中成功的一个关键是形成群体的能力，这种能力可以将水流缓和到有利于足丝形成的水平。
