Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Growth and sexual maturity of the northern propellerclam (Cyrtodaria siliqua) in Eastern Canada, with bomb radiocarbon age validation

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Marine Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The northern propellerclam Cyrtodaria siliqua is a common bycatch in the Arctic surfclam, Mactromeris polynyma fishery on Banquereau Bank in Eastern Canada. Samples of the propellerclam from this exploited fishery were used to determine the life history characteristics of the population. The age structure of the population is dominated by old animals to ages exceeding 100 years. We validated the age estimates for the propellerclam through analysis of bomb-produced radiocarbon in the shell growth increments deposited before, during and after the atmospheric atomic bomb testing periods of the 1950s and 1960s. Radiocarbon from shells with presumed birth dates between the late 1950s and 1970s clearly reflected the sharp increase in oceanic radiocarbon attributable to previous nuclear testing, indicating that age estimates based on shell increment counts are accurate. Estimates of von Bertalanffy growth parameters revealed that the growth rate of the population was relatively rapid for the first 20 years of life, slowing down to very low growth rates thereafter. Sexual maturity was estimated as being reached at 28.6 mm in length and 4.7 years in age. Size–weight morphometric relationships were also calculated.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Barón PJ, Real LE, Ciocco NF, Ré ME (2004) Morphometry, growth and reproduction of an Atlantic population of the razor clam Ensis macha (Molina, 1782). Sci Mar 68:211–217

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bureau D, Hajas W, Hand CM, Dovey G (2003) Age, size structure and growth parameters of geoducks (Panopea abrupta, Conrad 1849) from seven locations in British Columbia sampled in 2001 and 2002. Can Tech Rep Fish Aquat Sci 2494:29

    Google Scholar 

  • Campana SE (1997) Use of radiocarbon from nuclear fallout as a dated marker in the otoliths of haddock Melanogrammus aeglefinus. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 150:49–56

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campana SE (1999) Chemistry and composition of fish otoliths: pathways, mechanisms and applications. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 188:263–297

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Campana SE (2001) Accuracy, precision and quality control in age determination, including a review of the use and abuse of age validation methods. J Fish Biol 59:197–242

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campana SE, Jones CM (1998) Radiocarbon from nuclear testing applied to age validation of black drum, Pogonias cromis. Fish Bull 96:185–192

    Google Scholar 

  • Campana SE, Natanson LJ, Myklevol S (2002) Bomb dating and age determination of large pelagic sharks. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 59:450–455

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campana SE, Casselman JM, Jones CM (2008) Bomb radiocarbon chronologies in the Arctic, with implications for the age validation of lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) and other Arctic species. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 65:733–743

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell A, Ming MD (2003) Maturity and growth of the Pacific geoduck clam, Panopea abrupta, in southern British Columbia, Canada. J Shellfish Res 22:85–90

    Google Scholar 

  • DFO (1997) Scotian Shelf northern propellerclam. DFO Atlantic fisheries stock status report 96/129E. DFO, Ottawa, p 2

    Google Scholar 

  • Druffel EM (1989) Decadal time scale variability of ventilation in the North Atlantic: high-precision measurements of bomb radiocarbon in banded corals. J Geophys Res 94:3271–3285

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Drummond L, Mulcahy M, Culloty S (2006) The reproductive biology of the Manila clam, Ruditapes philippinarum, from the North-West of Ireland. Aquaculture 254:326–340

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dwyer KS, Walsh SJ, Campana SE (2003) Age determination, validation and growth of Grand Bank yellowtail flounder (Limanda ferruginea). ICES J Mar Sci 60:1123–1138

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garcia EG, Thorarinsdottir GG, Ragnarsson SA (2003) Settlement of bivalve spat on artificial collectors in Eyjafjordur, North Iceland. Hydrobiologia 503:131–141

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gartner JV Jr (1991) Life histories of three species of lanternfishes (Pisces: Myctophidae) from the eastern Gulf of Mexico. II. Age and growth patterns. Mar Biol 111:21–27

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gaymer CF, Dutil C, Himmelman JH (2004) Prey selection and predatory impact of four major sea stars on a soft bottom subtidal community. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 313:353–374

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gilkinson KD, Fader GBJ, Gordon DC, Charron R, McKeown D, Roddick D, Kenchington ELR, MacIsaac K, Bourbonnais C, Vass P, Liu Q (2003) Immediate and longer-term impacts of hydraulic clam dredging on an offshore sandy seabed: effects on physical habitat and processes of recovery. Cont Shelf Res 23:1315–1336

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gilkinson KD, Gordon DC, MacIsaac KG, McKeown DL, Kenchington ELR, Bourbonnais C, Vass WP (2005) Immediate impacts and recovery trajectories of macrofaunal communities following hydraulic clam dredging on Banquereau, eastern Canada. ICES J Mar Sci 62:925–947

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hanson JM, Chouinard GA (2002) Diet of Atlantic cod in the southern Gulf of St Lawrence as an index of ecosystem change, 1959–2000. J Fish Biol 60:902–922

    Google Scholar 

  • Humanson GL (1979) Animal tissue technique. Freeman and Company, San Francisco, 661 p

  • Insightful Corporation (2003) S-PLUS 6.2. Insightful Corporation, Seattle

    Google Scholar 

  • Kalish JM (1993) Pre- and post-bomb radiocarbon in fish otoliths. Earth Planet Sci Lett 114:549–554

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Keats DW (1991) American plaice, Hippoglossoides platessoides (Fabricius), predation on green sea urchins, Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis (O.F. Muller), in eastern Newfoundland. J Fish Biol 38:67–72

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kenchington ELR, Prena J, Gilkinson KD, Gordon DC, MacIsaac K, Bourbonnais C, Schwinghamer PJ, Rowell TW, McKeown DL, Vass WP (2001) Effects of experimental otter trawling on the macrofauna of a sandy bottom ecosystem on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 58:1043–1057

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kilada R, Campana SE, Roddick D (2007a) Validated age, growth and mortality estimates of the ocean quahog (Arctica islandica) in the western Atlantic. ICES J Mar Sci 64:31–38

    Google Scholar 

  • Kilada R, Roddick D, Mombourquette K (2007b) Age determination, validation, growth and minimum size of sexual maturity of the Greenland smoothcockle (Serripes groenlandicus, Bruguiere, 1789) in Eastern Canada. J Shellfish Res 26:443–450

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laudien J, Herrmann M, Arntz WE (2007) Soft bottom species richness and diversity as a function of depth and iceberg scour in Arctic glacial Kongsfjorden (Svalbard). Polar Biol 30:1035–1046

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lilly GR, Meron S (1986) Propeller clam (Cyrtodaria siliqua) from stomachs of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) on the southern Grand Bank (NAFO Div 3NO) natural prey or an instance of net feeding? ICES Demersal Fish Committee, C.M. 1986/G., 36. ICES, Copenhagen, 13 p

  • Matveeva TA, Maksimovich NV (1977) Ecology and distribution of Hiatella arctica (Mollusca, Bivalvia, Heterodonta) in the White Sea. Zool Zhurnal 56:199–204

    Google Scholar 

  • McFarlane GA, Beamish RJ (1983) Biology and fishery of Pacific hake (Merluccius productus) in the Strait of Georgia. Mar Fish Rev 47:23–24

    Google Scholar 

  • Nesis KN (1965) Ecology of Cyrtodaria siliqua and history of the genus Cyrtodaria (Bivalvia: Hiatellidae). Malacologia 3:197–210

    Google Scholar 

  • Roddick DL (2005) The Scotian Shelf experience with emerging bivalve fisheries. Fisheries assessment and management in data-limited situations. Alaska Sea Grant College Program, AK-SG-05–02. Alaska Sea Grant, Fairbanks, pp 305–321

    Google Scholar 

  • Roddick DL, Lemon D (1992) Exploratory survey for small Arctic surfclams on the eastern Scotian Shelf. Can Ind Rep Fish Aquat Sci 215(viii):33

    Google Scholar 

  • Roddick DL, Mohn RK (1985) Use of age-length information in scallop assessments. CAFSAC research document 85/37. CAFSAC, St John’s, 16 p

  • Ropes JW (1968) Reproductive cycle of the surf clam, Spisula solidissima, in offshore New Jersey. Biol Bull 135:349–365

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ropes JW (1985) Modern methods used to age oceanic bivalves. Nautilus 99:53–57

    Google Scholar 

  • Ropes JW, Jones DS, Murawski SA, Serchuk F, Jerald A Jr (1984) Documentation of annual growth lines in ocean quahogs, Arctica islandica Linne. Fish Bull 82:1–19

    Google Scholar 

  • Sauvé S, Brousseau P, Pellerin J, Morin Y, Senécal L, Goudreau P, Fournier M (2002) Phagocytic activity of marine and freshwater bivalves: in vitro exposure of hemocytes to metals (Ag, Cd, Hg and Zn). Aquat Toxicol 58:189–200

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sejr MK, Sand MK, Jensen KT, Petersen JK, Christensen PB, Rysgaard S (2002) Growth and production of Hiatella arctica (Bivalvia) in a high-Arctic fjord (Young Sound, Northeast Greenland). Mar Ecol Prog Ser 244:163–169

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simonarson LA (1974) Recent Cyrtodaria and its fossil occurrence in Greenland. Bull Geol Soc Den 23:65–75

    Google Scholar 

  • Sloan NA, Robinson SM (1984) Age and gonad development in the geoduck clam Panope abrupta (Conrad) from southern British Columbia, Canada. J Shellfish Res 4:131–137

    Google Scholar 

  • Stuiver M, Polach HA (1977) Discussion: reporting of 14C data. Radiocarbon 19:355–363

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • SYSTAT (1997) SYSTAT for Windows 1997, version 7.0.1. SPSS Inc., Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Tracey SR, Lyle JM (2005) Age validation, growth modelling, and mortality estimates for striped trumpeter (Latris lineata) from southern Australia: making the most of patchy data. Fish Bull 103:169–182

    Google Scholar 

  • Urban HJ (1994) Adaptation of six infaunal bivalve species of Chile: coexistence resulting from differences in morphology, burrowing depth and substrate preference. Arch Fish Mar Res 42:183–193

    Google Scholar 

  • Yonge CM (1971) On functional morphology and adaptive radiation in the bivalve superfamily Saxicavacea (Hiatella (=Saxicava), Saxicavella, Panomya, Panope, Cyrtodaria). Malacologia 11:1–44

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Population Ecology Division, Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Box 1006, Dartmouth, NS, B2Y 4A2, Canada

    Raouf W. Kilada, Steven E. Campana & Dale Roddick

Authors
  1. Raouf W. Kilada
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Steven E. Campana
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Dale Roddick
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Raouf W. Kilada.

Additional information

Communicated by S.A. Poulet.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Kilada, R.W., Campana, S.E. & Roddick, D. Growth and sexual maturity of the northern propellerclam (Cyrtodaria siliqua) in Eastern Canada, with bomb radiocarbon age validation. Mar Biol 156, 1029–1037 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-009-1146-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-009-1146-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation