Responses of the mussel Brachidontes rodriguezii to aerial exposure: implications on growth and physiological conditions

GIMENEZ, JULIANA; TORROGLOSA, M. E.

CANADIAN JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY

NATL RESEARCH COUNCIL CANADA-N R C RESEARCH PRESS

Lugar: Otawa; Año: 2019 vol. 97 p. 612 - 618

0008-4301

The length of aerial exposure (i.e., environmental conditions) of an organism, due to daily tides, induces physiologicalresponses. A mark?recapture field experiment was conducted in two intertidal zones (low tide and high tide) using the staincalcein AM to determine growth, as measured by shell length, of the mussel Brachidontes rodriguezii (d?Orbigny, 1842) along itsvertical distribution off the north Argentinean coast. In the high intertidal zone, B. rodriguezii exhibited slower growth in shelllength because of the physiological stress resulting from aerial exposure during low tides. In the low intertidal zone and duringspring, B. rodriguezii exhibited faster growth in shell length. It is suggested that growth of B. rodriguezii relies on severalenvironmental factors (temperature, photoperiod, and aerial exposure) that fluctuate according to tidal height.