Predation by crustaceans on native and non-native Baltic clams

Abstract

AB Aquatic Biology Contact the journal Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections AB 6:15-24 (2009) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/ab00155 Predation by crustaceans on native and non-native Baltic clams Gunilla Ejdung1,*, Elsina Flach1, Lars Byrén2, Herman Hummel3 1Department of Systems Ecology, Stockholm University, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden 2Marina Iaröverket, Stocksunds hamn, 182 78 Stocksund, Sweden 3Centre for Estuarine and Marine Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology, Korringaweg 7, 4401 NT Yerseke, The Netherlands *Email: g.ejdung@telia.com ABSTRACT: We studied the effect of crustacean predators on native/non-native Macoma balthica bivalves in aquarium experiments. North Sea M. balthica (NS Macoma) were recently observed in the southern Baltic Sea. They differ genetically and in terms of morphology, behaviour and evolutionary history from Baltic Sea M. balthica (BS Macoma), and this may affect predation pressure and community structure. We hypothesised that predators consume more of the prey they co-exist with. NS Macoma and BS Macoma were exposed to crustacean predators common in the North Sea (Carcinus maenas and Crangon crangon) and in the Baltic Sea (C. crangon and Saduria entomon). Contrary to our hypotheses, the North Sea predators ate more BS Macoma, and S. entomon ate more NS Macoma. The crush-limited C. maenas preyed more on globular BS Macoma, whereas S. entomon, which do not crush but pry open the bivalve shell, ate more NS Macoma, which have a lighter (thus probably thinner) shell than BS Macoma. When NS and BS Macoma were offered together, BS Crangon ate more NS Macoma. We also studied BS Crangon consumption of M. balthica to assess whether sizes offered fall within the size spectrum that C. crangon can eat. Small (20 to 40 mm long), medium (40 to 50 mm) and large (50 to 60 mm) C. crangon especially ate small M. balthica. Differences in shape, size and meat/shell weight ratio between the BS and NS Macoma partly explained the differences in the susceptibility to predation by native and non-native predators. KEY WORDS: Native · Non-native · Predator · Prey · Baltic Sea · North Sea · Macoma balthica Full text in pdf format PreviousNextCite this article as: Ejdung G, Flach E, Byrén L, Hummel H (2009) Predation by crustaceans on native and non-native Baltic clams. Aquat Biol 6:15-24. https://doi.org/10.3354/ab00155 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in AB Vol. 6. Online publication date: June 09, 2009 Print ISSN: 1864-7782; Online ISSN: 1864-7790 Copyright © 2009 Inter-Research.