Factors determining the abundance, distribution and population size–structure of the penshellPinna carnea

Abstract

Surveys conducted in the south-western Dominican Republic showed that the penshellPinna carneais a consistent component of seagrass beds and is absent in adjacent sandflats. Population densities were low (0.012–0.076·m−2) and the size–structure skewed towards large individuals. Trials with different types of substrata in caged spat collectors, involving a combination of sand, seagrass blades and roots, and an artificial treatment by itself, indicated no settlement preference for any of the substrata tested. Comparison of additional spat collectors (caged and uncaged) indicated high predation losses (84%) for recently settled penshells. Experiments with penshells measuring 10–30, 50–70 and 90–110 mm (anterior to posterior dorsal tip) transplanted to plots in a seagrass bed and sandflat showed that predation losses decreased with increasing size and were much less in seagrass than in the sandflat. In 10-day trials, survival in the three size-groups was 27-fold greater in the seagrass bed than on the sandflat. During 3-day trials in the sandflat, survival increased from 6% for 50–100 mm penshells to 93% for 150–170 mm penshells. At the end of 100-day trials, during which the study area was subjected to Hurricane Dennis, the only surviving penshells were large individuals (90–110 mm) that had been transplanted to the seagrass bed. All individuals transplanted to the sandflat went missing. Growth measurements showed that small penshells grow rapidly (up to 2.2 mm·d−1), but the growth rate drops markedly at ~150 mm. Rapid juvenile growth may be a strategy for reducing the period of high vulnerability to predators. The high proportion of large individuals in the population likely represents the accumulation of successive recruitments as growth slows in older penshells.Pinna carneais mainly restricted to seagrass beds because they provide more protection from predators than adjacent habitats. Moreover, the consolidation of sediments in seagrass beds by roots and algal rhizoids provides a degree of protection from physical disturbances such as hurricanes. The advantages provided by the seagrass habitat come at a cost because we detected a mortality factor in the seagrass bed (possibly related to the ~3-fold higher silt load) that was absent on the sandflat.