Transport costs for mussels- adaptations after sudden changes in food quality
Mussels are cultured on a large scale culture in The Netherlands, it involves about 80 companies and is carried out on about 100 km2 of culture plots in the Oosterschelde and Dutch Wadden Sea. Each company owns several culture plots and during the culture cycle mussels are regularly transplanted between plots. Environmental conditions on culture plots differ, for example the Wadden Sea is much more turbid than the Oosterschelde. Mussels are filter feeders and will adapt themselves to prevailing conditions. However, when the difference between conditions is large, mussels struggle to adapt or may not cope at all. There are indications that this reduces mussel production potential. We are investigating this effect within the framework of a project on improving mussel productivity (PROFMOS). We focus on adaptations in the feeding apparatus of mussels (gills and palps and their ratio), we monitor these quantities from culture plots and carry out additional experiments.
Research type: lab work/experiment
Research level: minor/internship (BSc. level)
Prerequisite: good dissection skills, exactitude, interest in biology/ecology,
Partners: Several major Mussel farmers, Centre of Expertise Delta Technology
Researcher involved: research group aquaculture