Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Predators influence the tidal distribution of oysters (Crassostrea virginica)

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

Abstract

Biotic and abiotic conditions can separately and synergistically influence the abundance and distribution of species and create vertical zonation patterns in marine systems. In Corpus Christi Bay, TX, USA, eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica) are limited to intertidal habitats, while in adjacent estuaries, oysters not only grow subtidally, but thrive in these areas to the extent they are a viable commercial fishery. The purpose of this study was to assess how predators and abiotic conditions affect oyster mortality and growth at different tidal elevations. Anecdotal evidence suggests that abiotic conditions, primarily hypoxia and salinity, as well as oyster disease, limits oysters to intertidal areas. Yet, in Corpus Christi Bay, oysters are absent from subtidal areas where hypoxia is not known to occur. Infection by Perkinsus marinus (Dermo) is common in the study area, but previous work suggests that infection rates do not increase when oysters are transplanted subtidally. We investigated oyster tidal distributions by transplanting newly settled oysters into intertidal and subtidal areas. Predation on oysters was significantly greater in subtidal as compared to intertidal habitats. When protected from predators using cages, oyster survival significantly increased. Further, oysters in subtidal areas allocated significantly more resources to shell growth than did those in intertidal areas, and oysters are known to grow heavier shells in response to predators. Oyster settlement was not statistically different between inter and subtidal areas, and abiotic conditions measured during the study did not exceed known tolerance limits for oysters. Previous studies have shown that abiotic conditions influence oyster mortality and the success of restored oyster reefs. Our findings indicate that predators can also affect oyster distribution, and their effects should be evaluated when developing plans for oyster management and restoration.

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

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Andrews JD, Ray SM (1988) Management strategies to control the disease caused by Perkinsus marinus. American Fisheries Society Special Publication, vol 18, pp 257–264

  • Baker SM, Mann R (1992) Effects of hypoxia and anoxia on larval settlement, juvenile growth, and juvenile survival of the oyster Crassostrea virginica. Biol Bull 182:265–269

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baker SM, Mann R (1994) Description of metamorphic phases in the oyster Crassostrea virginica and effects of hypoxia on metamorphosis. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 104:91–99

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bartol IK, Mann R, Luckenbach M (1999) Growth and mortality of oysters (Crassostrea virginica) on constructed intertidal reefs: effects of tidal height and substrate level. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 237:157–184

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beck MW et al (2011) Oyster reefs at risk and recommendations for conservation, restoration, and management. Bioscience 61:107–116

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bishop MJ, Peterson CH (2006) Direct effects of physical stress can be counteracted by indirect benefits: oyster growth on a tidal elevation gradient. Oecologia 147:426–433

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown KM, Stickle WB (2002) Physical constraints on the foraging ecology of a predatory snail. Mar Freshw Behav Phys 35:157–166

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown KM, McDonough M, Richardson TD (2004) Intraspecific life history variation in the southern oyster drill, Stramonita haemastoma: patterns and causes. J Shellfish Res 23:149–155

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown K, George G, Peterson G, Thompson B, Cowan J (2008) Oyster predation by black drum varies spatially and seasonally. Estuar Coast 31:597–604

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Byron KW, Smee DL (2012) Effects of flow on the behavior of the southern oyster drill Stramonita Haemastoma in response to exudates from oysters and oyster reef fauna. J Shellfish Res 31:93–100

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chu FLE, Lapeyre JF (1993) Perkinsus marinus susceptibility and defense-related activities in eastern oysters Crassostrea virginica: temperature effects. Dis Aquat Org 16:223–234

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chu FLE, La Peyre JF, Burreson CS (1993) Perkinsus marinus infection and potential defense-related activities in eastern oysters, Crassostrea virginica: salinity effects. J Invertebr Pathol 62:226–232

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Connell JH (1961) Effects of competition, predation by Thais lapillus, and other factors on natural populations of the barnacle Balanus balanoides. Ecol Monogr 31:61–104

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Culbertson J, Anderson J, Ray S (2011a) Monitoring dermo infections in texas oyster populations and their response to changes in freshwater inflows. J Shellfish Res 30:498

    Google Scholar 

  • Culbertson J, Gelwick F, Ray S (2011b) Dermo (Perkinsus marinus) infection and freshwater inflows interaction with Texas oyster population dynamics. J Shellfish Res 30:498–499

    Google Scholar 

  • Grabowski JH (2004) Habitat complexity disrupts predator-prey interactions but not the trophic cascade on oyster reefs. Ecology 85:995–1004

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grabowski JH, Peterson CS (2007) Restoring oyster reefs to recover ecosystem services. Ecosyst Eng Plants Protists 4:281–298

  • Ingle RM, Dawson CE Jr (1952) Growth of the American Oyster, Crassostrea virginica (Gmelin) in Florida waters. Bull Mar Sci 2:393–404

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson KD, Grabowski JH, Smee DL (in review) Omnivory dampens trophic cascades in estuarine communities. Mar Ecol Prog Ser. doi:10.3354/meps10815

  • Johnson KD (2012) Eastern oysters offer no pearl, but they might be in peril: understanding how lethal and nonlethal predator effects influence oyster distribution and reef communities. A Ph.D. dissertation, Texas A&M, Corpus Christi

  • Johnson KD, Smee DL (2012) Size matters for risk assessment and resource allocation in bivalves. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 462:103–110

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson MW, Powers SP, Senne J, Park K (2009) Assessing in situ tolerances of Eastern Oysters (Crassostrea virginica) under moderate hypoxic regimes: implications for restoration. J Shellfish Res 28:185–192

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Karolus J, Sunila I, Spear S, Volk J (2000) Prevalence of Perkinsus marinus (Dermo) in Crassostrea virginica along the Connecticut shoreline. Aquaculture 183:215–221

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kirk RE (ed) (1982) Experimental design, 2nd edn. Brooks/Cole Publishing Co., Monterey

    Google Scholar 

  • La Peyre MK, Gossman B, La Peyre JF (2009) Defining optimal freshwater flow for oyster production: effects of freshet rate and magnitude of change and duration on eastern oysters and Perkinsus marinus infection. Estuar Coast 32:522–534

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lenihan HS (1999) Physical-biological coupling on oyster reefs: how habitat structure influences individual performance. Ecol Monogr 69:251–275

    Google Scholar 

  • Lenihan H, Micheli F, Shelton S, Peterson C (1999) The influence of multiple environmental stressors on susceptibility to parasites: an experimental determination with oysters. Limnol Oceanogr 44:910–924

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lenihan HS, Peterson CH, Byers JE, Grabowski JH, Thayer GW, Colby DR (2001) Cascading of habitat degradation: oyster reefs invaded by refugee fishes escaping stress. Ecol Appl 11:764–782

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leonard GH, Levine JM, Schmidt PR, Bertness MD (1998) Flow-driven variation in intertidal community structure in a Maine estuary. Ecology 79:1395–1411

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lord JP, Whitlatch RB (2012) Inducible defenses in the eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica Gmelin in response to the presence of the predatory oyster drill Urosalpinx cinerea Say in Long Island Sound. Mar Biol 159(6):1177–1182

  • Malek J (2010) The effects of intertidal exposure on disease, mortality, and growth of the eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica. MS Thesis, University of Maryland

  • Menge BA (1976) Organization of the New England rocky intertidal community: role of predation, competition, and environmental heterogeneity. Ecol Monogr 46(4):355–393

  • Menge B, Olson A (1990) Role of scale and environmental factors in regulation of community structure. Trends Ecol Evol 5:52–57

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Menge B, Sutherland J (1987) Community regulation: variation in disturbance, competition, and predation in relation to environmental stress and recruitment. Am Nat 130:730

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moroney DA, Walker RL (1999) The effects of tidal and bottom placement on the growth, survival and fouling of the eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica. J World Aquac Soc 30:433–442

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Naddafi R, Eklov P, Pettersson K (2007) Non-lethal predator effects on the feeding rate and prey selection of the exotic zebra mussel Dreissena polymorpha. Oikos 116:1289–1298

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Newell R, Kennedy V, Shaw K (2007) Comparative vulnerability to predators, and induced defense responses, of eastern oysters Crassostrea virginica and non-native Crassostrea ariakensis oysters in Chesapeake Bay. Mar Biol 152:449–460

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Obeirn FX, Heffernan PB, Walker RL (1995) Preliminary recruitment studies of the eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica, and their potential applications, in coastal Georgia. Aquaculture 136:231–242

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Obeirn FX, Walker RL, Heffernan PB (1996) Enhancement of subtidal eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica, recruitment using mesh bag enclosures. J Shellfish Res 15:313–318

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Beirn FX, Luckenbach MW, Nestlerode JA, Coates GM (2000) Toward design criteria in constructed oyster reefs: oyster recruitment as a function of substrate type and tidal height. J Shellfish Res 19:387–395

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Connor NE, Grabowski JH, Ladwig LM, Bruno JF (2008) Simulated predator extinctions: predator identity affects survival and recruitment of oysters. Ecology 89:428–438

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pawlik JR (1998) Coral reef sponges: do predatory fishes affect their distribution? Limnol Oceanogr 43:1396–1399

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pennings S, Bertness M (2001) Salt marsh communities. In: Bertness, Gaines, Hay (eds) Marine community ecology. Sinauer Associates Inc, Sunderland, MA, pp 289–316

  • Peterson CH (1986) Quantitative allometry of gamete production by Mercenaria mercenaria into old age. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 29:93–97

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pollack JB, Kim HC, Morgan EK, Montagna PA (2011) Role of flood disturbance in natural oyster (Crassostrea virginica) population maintenance in an estuary in south Texas, USA. Estuar Coast 34:187–197

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pollack J, Ray SM, Lebreton B, Blomberg B, Rikard S (2012) Patchiness of dermo (Perkinsus marinus) disease foci in the Aransas-Copano, Texas estuarine system. J Shellfish Res 31:333

    Google Scholar 

  • Powell EN, Gauthier JD, Wilson EA, Nelson A, Fay RR, Brooks JM (1992) Oyster disease and climate change—are yearly changes in Perkinsus marinus parasitism in oysters (Crassostrea virginica) controlled by climatic cycles in the Gulf of Mexico. Mar Ecol P S Z N I 13:243–270

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ray SM (1996) Historical perspective on Perkinsus marinus disease of oysters in the Gulf of Mexico. J Shell Res 15:9–11

    Google Scholar 

  • Ray SM (2012) www.oystersentinel.org. In: Corpus Christi Bay, East Flats, vol. 2012. http://www.oystersentinel.org

  • Reece KS, Bushek D, Hudson KL, Graves JE (2001) Geographic distribution of Perkinsus marinus genetic strains along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the USA. Mar Biol 139:1047–1055

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson EM, Smee DL, Trussell GC (2011) Green crab (Carcinus maenas) foraging efficiency reduced by fast flows. Plos One 6(6):e21025

  • Robinson EM, Lunt J, Marshall CD, Smee DL (in press) Eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica) deter crab predators by altering their morphology in response to crab cues. Aquatic Biol doi:10.3354/ab00549

  • Roegner GC, Mann R (1995) Early recruitment and growth of the American Oyster Crassostrea virginica (bivalvia, ostreidae) with respect to tidal zonation and season. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 117:91–101

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saoud IG, Rouse DB, Wallace RK, Supan JE, Rikard S (2000) An in situ study on the survival and growth of Crassostrea virginica juveniles in Bon Secour Bay, Alabama. J Shellfish Res 19:809–814

    Google Scholar 

  • Smee DL, Ferner MC, Weissburg MJ (2010) Hydrodynamic sensory stressors produce nonlinear predation patterns. Ecology 91:1391–1400

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sokal R, Rohlf F (eds) (1995) Biometry: the principles and practice of statistics in biological research. WH Freeman, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Stephenson TA, Stephenson A (1972) Life between tidemarks on rocky shores. W.H. Freeman, San Francisco

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner AM, Mittelbach GG (1990) Predator avoidance and community structure: interactions among piscivores, planktivores, and plankton. Ecology 71:2241–2254

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Widdows J, Newell RIE, Mann R (1989) Effects of hypoxia and anoxia on survival, energy-metabolism, and feeding of oyster larvae (Crassostrea virginica, Gmelin). Biol Bull 177:154–166

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ybanez C (2007) Selective advantage of living in the intertidal zone: Perkinsus marinus (Dermo) and heat shock survival in eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica). Masters Thesis, Texas A&M University Corpus Christi

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by Texas Sea Grant, the Texas Research Development Fund, a TAMU-CC Faculty Enhancement Grant, NSF-MRI Grant #0821215, and the Ruth A. Campbell Professorship to D.L. Smee. Our NSF REU program also provided funding as did the TAMU-CC SOAR program for undergraduate research. The Texas AgriLife Research Mariculture Laboratory in Port Aransas, TX, and the TAMU-CC Center for Coastal Studies provided facilities. The field work would not have been possible without the help of The Marine Ecology Lab at Texas A & M University—Corpus Christi especially P. Torres, E. Robinson and J. Lunt who provided valuable lab assistance. Helpful comments from J. Pollack, P. Montagna, and G. Stunz improved the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Stevenson University, Stevenson, MD, 21153, USA

    Keith D. Johnson

  2. Department of Life Sciences, Texas A&M – University Corpus Christi, 6300 Ocean Dr., Corpus Christi, TX, 78412, USA

    Delbert L. Smee

Authors
  1. Keith D. Johnson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Delbert L. Smee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Keith D. Johnson.

Additional information

Communicated by F. Bulleri.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Johnson, K.D., Smee, D.L. Predators influence the tidal distribution of oysters (Crassostrea virginica). Mar Biol 161, 1557–1564 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-014-2440-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-014-2440-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation