Heterozygosity, growth, and survival of the hard clam,Mercenaria mercenaria, in seagrass vs sandflat habitats

Abstract

Populations of the hard clam,Mercenaria mercenaria L., sampled from dissimilar, adjacent habitats (October and November 1987), were used to assess environmental effects on associations among multi-locus heterozygosity, growth, and survival. Individuals were collected from three widely separated localities along the east coast of North America with each consisting of a seagrass bed and an adjacent, unvegetated sandflat. Demographic differences between adjacent populations were attributed to habitat type. Samples from intertidal sandflats at two of the localities were dominated by younger individuals than those from seagrass beds. Differential growth between adjacent populations was detected at only one locality wherein seagrass individuals grew faster than those from the sandflat. Allelic frequencies revealed adjacent populations that were genetically homogeneous. Nearly all of the genetic variance (98%) was within populations, yet a small (1.7%), but significant, portion occurred between localities. Observed and expected heterozygosities revealed a deficiency of heterozygotes in all six samples. Inbreeding and small-scale population subdivision were discounted as causative factors because deficiencies were heterogeneous across loci. Multi-locus heterozygosity was not correlated with growth rate in samples from any locality. Using a consensus test, multilocus heterozygosity was positively associated with ageclass in sandflat, but not seagrass, samples. We suggest that heterozygosity-fitness trait associations in marine bivalves are more likely to occur in populations inhabiting more stressful, fluctuating environments