Abstract
Mussel growers in Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada, currently use high-pressure water spraying (~700 psi) to mortally injure or dislodge invasive tunicates from mussel product and gear. An added benefit of this process may be the stimulation of byssal thread production, leading to improved mussel attachment. This study measured byssal thread abundance and thickness in cultured blue mussel Mytilus edulis exposed to high-pressure spraying either once, five times (every three weeks), or not at all (control). No significant differences were observed in number or width of byssal threads between treatments indicating routine high-pressure spraying does not affect mussel attachment strength.
Highlights
The blue mussel (Mytilus edulis Linnaeus, 1758) aquaculture industry in Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada, currently uses high-pressure water to mortally injure or dislodge several invasive tunicate species from mussel lines and aquaculture gear (Locke et al 2009; Paetzold and Davidson 2010)
Since mussels can be dislodged from the socks by excessive biomass when mussel lines are lifted out of the water, an increase in attachment strength could reduce the likelihood of crop loss during maintenance and harvesting
Byssal thread production can be influenced by several factors, including turbulence caused by wave action or current velocity (Young 1985; Carrington 2002; Moeser et al 2006; Lachance et al 2008), temperature (Young 1985; Lachance et al 2008), predators (Côté 1995; Leonard et al 1999) and seasonal changes in resource allocation as energy is redirected into reproduction (Carrington 2002; Lachance et al 2008)
Summary
The blue mussel (Mytilus edulis Linnaeus, 1758) aquaculture industry in Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada, currently uses high-pressure water to mortally injure or dislodge several invasive tunicate species from mussel lines and aquaculture gear (Locke et al 2009; Paetzold and Davidson 2010). Attachment strength, or tenacity, in the blue mussel is determined largely by byssal thread count, width and quality (Côté 1995; Carrington 2002; Moeser and Carrington 2006). The objective of this study was to determine if highpressure spraying, at a pressure and frequency consistent with mussel crop maintenance, affects byssal thread count and width in M. edulis
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