Fluxes of dissolved and particulate calcium in selected tissues of Crassostrea virginica

Abstract

Rates of calcium incorporation by selected tissues of Crassostrea virginica increased in a step-wise fashion from lowest values among organisms exposed to ambient total calcium concentrations of 45 mg l-1, intermediate values among oysters exposed to 135, 225, and 315 mg l-1, to highest rates for oysters exposed to 360 mg l-1. Although excised visceral mass tissue had highest rates of calcium incorporation relative to mantle, muscle, and both organic and inorganic portions of the shell, mantle tissue appeared to have the most dynamic response to changes in ambient calcium concentrations. Rates of dissolved calcium incorporation from ambient water were approximately two to three orders of magnitude higher than comparable rates from ingested algal food. Behavioral response to concentrations of selected inoic, species in the ambient environment may have been responsible for observed differences in rates of calcium incorporation.