Volume of Water Pumped and Particulate Matter Deposited by the Iceland Scallop (Chlamys Islandica) in Balsfjord, Northern Norway

Abstract

Suspension feeding bivalves obtain their food from organic particles in the surrounding water which is pumped through their mantle cavities. The particles are retained by the gill. All suspension feeding bivalves investigated retain, with 100% efficiency, particles down to a size of 9 µm, and many retain all particles larger than 2 to 3 µm (see Vahl 1979 a for review), i.e. suspension feeding bivalves retain almost all species of phytoplankton. Since the suspension feeding bivalves pump large volumes of water through their mantle cavities (see J⌽rgensen 1975 and Winter 1978 for review) large volumes are cleared of phytoplankton. Therefore, when suspension feeding bivalves occur in high densities, they harvest a sizeable portion of the phytoplankton production of the area in which they live. The present paper deals with this aspect of the biology of the Iceland scallop (Chlamys islandica).