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Particle processing and gut kinematics of planktotrophic bivalve larvae

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Abstract

Although the clearance rates of planktotrophic bivalve larvae have been widely reported, post-oral particle processing is less well understood. Using a series of exposures to differently colored fluorescent polystyrene microbeads, we quantify several post-oral process in the larval gut, including gut fullness, gut passage time, and degree of mixing by modeling larval guts as a continuously stirred tank reactor (CSTR), plug flow reactor (PFR) or combinations of the two in series. We also varied several experimental conditions to understand how these affected estimates of gut kinematic parameters. We found the larval guts of M. galloprovincialis aged 2 and 7 days post-fertilization, had gut exchange time >1 h and were best described either as a CSTR or CSTR in series with a PFR. Mixing stomach contents likely aids post-oral particle selection, physical breakdown of ingested material, and accelerates the diffusion of digestive enzymes in the gut volume. Reactor models also provided estimates of ingestion rates, which were compared to those obtained by other authors who measured rates of bead accumulation. In accordance with reactor theory, ingestion rates were negatively and nonlinearly correlated with gut passage times and positively related to maximal gut fullness. Collectively, these studies provide new insight on the digestive strategy of planktotrophic bivalve larvae.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Thaddaeus Buser for helping to count beads and Javan Bailey and Greg Hutchinson of the Molluscan Broodstock Program, Oregon State University, for supplying technical and infrastructural support during studies. RIE Newell, R Mann, and PA Jumars provided insightful comments that greatly improved the manuscript. Funding of this project was through an award from the Markham Scholarship Fund, Hatfield Marine Science Center, and National Science Foundation Grant OCE CRI-OA 1041267. The authors also gratefully acknowledge travel support funded by a research grant from Norwich University.

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  1. Department Fisheries and Wildlife and Coastal Oregon Marine Experiment Station, Hatfield Marine Science Center, Oregon State University, Newport, OR, 97365, USA

    Matthew W. Gray & Chris Langdon

  2. Department of Mathematics, College of Science and Mathematics, Norwich University, Northfield, VT, 05663, USA

    Sean Kramer

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  1. Matthew W. Gray
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Correspondence to Matthew W. Gray.

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Responsible Editor: X. Irigoyen.

Reviewed by P. A. Jumars and R. Mann.

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Gray, M.W., Kramer, S. & Langdon, C. Particle processing and gut kinematics of planktotrophic bivalve larvae. Mar Biol 162, 2187–2201 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-015-2746-1

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