Discover Top Posts Tagged with #bivalves

Uncharismatic Fact of the Day

Get ready, get set, filter! Oysters are masters of removing algae, detritus, and plankton from the water, and none do it faster than the Hong Kong oyster. Despite reaching only 20 cm (7.8 in) in length, each individual is capable of filtering up to 30 L (7.9 gal) of water every hour!

(A Hong Kong oyster (Magallana hongkongensis) reef by Marine Thomas)

#Hong Kong oyster #Ostreida #Ostreidae #true oysters #oysters #bivalves #mollusks #invertebrates #uncharismatic facts

INVEST IN BIVALVES TODAY

#paleoblr #brachiopods #bivalves

Mytilus trossulus, Pacific blue mussel + Fucus vesiculosus, Bladder wrack

#i did the mussel model and was like “how tf do i turn this into an animation” //#seaweed!!!!! bubbles!!!! //#mussel #seaweed #marine life #bivalves #algae #thalassophobia #blender #gif #fast gif #transparent gif #flashing images #<- on the bubbles a little //#........i just realised after posting this that i forgot to make the mussels receive transparent shadows. nvm ill remember next time //

The molluscs are decimating food chains in Switzerland, have devastated the Great Lakes in North America, and this week were spotted in Nort

There is a certain type of person who argues that we should just let invasive species be, either because they're already there and it's our fault in the first place, or because they mistakenly think that "naturalized" (being able to successfully reproduce in a place) means "part of the natural environment now". This is to say nothing of well-meaning folks who hate the idea of any animal being killed, even if it's to save an ecosystem.

Yes, it is true that our species is by and large responsible for the spread of invasive species, whether it is common starlings being intentionally released in New York City's Central Park in the 1890s, or barred owls hopscotching across the former ecological barrier of the Great Plains due to settlers planting trees and stopping tree-killing wildfires. But that doesn't stop the fact that these introduced species are doing damage in their new homes.

The quagga mussel, and its cousin the zebra mussel, both originate in Ukraine (the zebra mussel is also found in Russia.) However, they have found their way to waters around the world and, lacking their natural predators and competitors, have exploded in population to the point where they not only devastate the natural environment but human infrastructure as well.

There aren't any simple answers in eradicating any invasive species; even successful eradication campaigns have involved an incredible amount of time, money, and effort, to say nothing of education. I used to lived near Willapa Bay in extreme southwest Washington, which for a time was completely lined with invasive Atlantic cordgrass. This destroyed native wetland ecosystems and threatened oyster farms, so a concerted effort began among both public and private entities to rid the bay of this problem. It took years of consistently spraying the cordgrass with herbicides to knock it back enough to allow native plants to recuperate.

However, one landowner along the bay refused for years to allow anyone to spray the cordgrass on their property, believing that any herbicide use was bad and wrong and evil. Their protected patch continued to send seeds out into the rest of the bay, which would result in new populations setting up shop. It wasn't until a few years ago that the landowners finally relented, but their refusal demonstrated that even the smallest amount of cordgrass allowed to survive could quickly cause the bay to become overrun again.

I appreciate this article because it lays out in stark terms the impact of invasive species. It doesn't mean the mussels won't have their champions arguing we should just leave them be (though these defenders likely number fewer than those trying to argue for the protection of, say, house sparrows in North America). But the more we educate people on the actual, measurable and observable impacts of these species and how to combat them, the more support we may get not only for eradication campaigns but prevention of the introduction of invasive species in the first place.

#invasive species #quagga mussels #zebra mussels #invasive animals #bivalves #molluscs #invertebrates #ecology #restoration ecology #North America #nature #wildlife #animals #environment #conservation

Some representative marine bivalves.

From Storer, Usinger, Stebbins, and Nybakken (1972) General Zoology (5th Ed.).

#bivalves #mollusks #marine biology #general zoology

March Madness: Bracket 1

It is officially time or March Madness! This year we are pitting the biggest of the big against each other (unless hey were in a previous March Madness. Sorry Argentinosaurus and Deinosuchus!). Remember, this is not about "who would win in a fight". These organisms have a lot more going for them than that.

So, without further ado here are the first two competitors: Campanile giganteum vs. Platyceramus platinus.