“Can Hard Clam Larval Survivorship Explain Recruitment
Failure in Great South Bay: A Modeling Study?
”
Dr. Eileen Hofmann
Center for Coastal Physical Oceanography
Monday, September 12, 2005
3:30 PM
Room 109, Crittenton Hall
Abstract
A biochemically-based model was developed to simulate the growth, development,
and metamorphosis of hard clam (Mercenaria mercenaria) larvae. Larvae are simulated
in terms of protein, neutral lipid, polar lipid, carbohydrate, and ash content.
Initial biochemical content of the larva is determined by egg composition and changes
in this occur as the larva grows and in response to the biochemical composition of
available food. Simulations that used environmental conditions from Great South Bay,
Long Island showed that variations in temperature and food quantity produce small
changes in overall larval survivorship relative to that obtained from average
conditions. The largest decrease in larval survivorship resulted from variations
in the quality of food available to the larva. Reductions in food lipid content
resulted in lowest larval survival rate. These results suggest that changes in food
quality during the past decade may be a contributing factor to the present low
recruitment rates of hard clam larvae in Great South Bay.
Biography
Eileen Hofmann received M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Marine Science and Engineering from
North Carolina State University. Her research interests are in the areas of descriptive
physical oceanography and mathematical modeling of marine ecosystems. Her current
research interests are focused on modeling the growth dynamics of a variety of marine
shellfish species, understanding the circulation of various regions of the Antarctic
continental shelf, and modeling the Antarctic marine food web from phytoplankton to
top predators.
Reception before seminar at 3:00 PM
Crittenton Hall
Old Dominion University
Norfolk, VA 23529
757-683-5548
Last updated 9/1/2005.
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