Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-m8qmq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-19T00:12:44.131Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Dynamics and Growth of a Recent Invader into European Coastal Waters: the American Razor Clam, Ensis Directus

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

J.J. Beukema  and
R. Dekker
J.J. Beukema
Affiliation:
Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, PO Box 59, 1790 AB, Den Burg, Texel, The Netherlands
R. Dekker
Affiliation:
Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, PO Box 59, 1790 AB, Den Burg, Texel, The Netherlands
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Densities and growth rates of Ensis directus (Bivalvia: Solenidae), a recent invader of the Wadden Sea, were monitored at 15 stations (12 transects and 3 squares) covering a wide range of intertidal levels and sediment types on Balgzand, a tidal-flat area in the western-most part of the Wadden Sea, during 1982–1994. In this period, recruitment was weak in all but one year (1991). Settlement took place in summer over a wide range of intertidal levels, but high survival of recruits was limited to stations below the level of mean low tides. Growth rates were also maximal at these low intertidal levels. In such areas they reached a mean length of about 6 cm in the first winter, about 12 cm in the second, and about 14 cm in the third winter. These growth rates were high compared with published records from other intertidal and shallow subtidal areas.

Relatively exposed parts of the lower intertidal zone, characterized by clean sands and infrequent emersion, are a poorly occupied habitat of the Wadden Sea and offer an available niche to a new species that is well adapted to such harsh environmental conditions. In such areas, E. directus has become a dominant member of the benthos and in 1992 and 1993 reached high biomass and production values of >10 g AFDW m−2.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 75 , Issue 2 , May 1995 , pp. 351 - 362
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1995

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Beukema, J.J., 1974. Seasonal changes in the biomass of the macro-benthos of a tidal flat area in the Dutch Wadden Sea. Netherlands Journal of Sea Research, 8, 94–107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beukema, J.J., 1976. Biomass and species richness of the macro-benthic animals living on the tidal flats of the Dutch Wadden Sea. Netherlands Journal of Sea Research, 10, 236–261.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beukema, J.J., 1988. An evaluation of the ABC-method (abundance/biomass comparison) as applied to macrozoobenthic communities living on tidal flats in the Dutch Wadden Sea. Marine Biology, 99, 425–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beukema, J.J., 1989. Bias in estimates of maximum life span, with an example of the edible cockle, Cerastoderma edule. Netherlands Journal of Zoology, 39, 79–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beukema, J.J., 1993. Successive changes in distribution patterns as an adaptive strategy in the bivalve Macoma balthica (L.) in the Wadden Sea. Helgolander Meeresuntersuchungen, 47, 287–304.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cadée, G.C., 1989. Size-selective transport of shells by birds and its palaeoecological implications. Palaeontology, 32, 429–437.Google Scholar
Cadée, G.C. & Hegeman, J., 1974. Primary production of the benthic microflora living on tidal flats in the Dutch Wadden Sea. Netherlands Journal of Sea Research, 8, 260–291.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cadée, G.C, Cadée Coenen, J. & Witte, J.Ij., 1994. Massale sterfte van Ensis directus op Schanserwaard en elders blijft raadselachtig. Correspondentieblad Nederlandse Malacologische Vereniging, 279, 86–93.Google Scholar
Cassie, R.M., 1954. Some uses of probability paper in the analysis of size frequency distributions. Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 5, 513–522.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cosel, R. Von, Dorjes, J. & Mühlenhardt-Siegel, U., 1982. Die amerikanische Schwertmuschel Ensis directus (Conrad) in der Deutschen Bucht. I. Zoogeographie und Taxonomie im Vergleich mit den einheimischen Schwertmuschelarten. Senckenbergiana Maritima, Frankfurt-am-Main, 14, 147–173.Google Scholar
Crisp, D.J., 1984. Energy flow measurements. In Methods for the study of marine benthos 2nd ed. (ed. N.A., Holme and A.D., Mclntyre), pp. 284–372. Oxford: Blackwell Press.Google Scholar
Dankers, N. & Beukema, J.J., 1983. Distributional patterns of macrozoobenthic species in relation to some environmental factors. In Ecology of the Wadden Sea (ed. W.J., Wolff), pp. 69–103. Rotterdam: A.A. Balkema.Google Scholar
Dörjes, J., 1976. Primärgefüge, Bioturbation und Makrofauna als Indikatoren des Sandversatzes im Seegebiet vor Norderney (Nordsee). II. Zonierung und Verteilung der Makrofauna. Senckenbergiana Maritima, Frankfurt-am-Main, 8, 171–188.Google Scholar
Dörjes, J., 1992. Die amerikanische Schwertmuschel Ensis directus (Conrad) in der Deutschen Bucht. III. Langzeitentwicklung nach 10 Jahren. Senckenbergiana Maritima, Frankfurt-am-Main, 22, 29–35.Google Scholar
Dörjes, J., Michaelis, H. & Rhode, B., 1986. Long-term studies of macrozoobenthos in intertidal and shallow subtidal habitats near the island of Norderney (east Frisian coast, Germany). Hydrobiologia, 142, 217–232.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drew, G.A., 1907. The habits and movements of the razor-shell clam, Ensis directus, Conrad. Biological Bulletin. Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, 12, 127–140.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Essink, K., 1985. On the occurrence of the American jack-knife clam Ensis directus (Conrad, 1843) (Bivalvia, Cultellidae) in the Dutch Wadden Sea. Basteria, 49, 73–80.Google Scholar
Howe, S., Maurer, D. & Leathern, W., 1988. Secondary production of benthic molluscs from the Delaware Bay and coastal area. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 26, 81–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Luczak, C. & Dewarumez, J.-M., 1992. Note on the identification of Ensis directus (Conrad, 1843). Cahiers de Biologie Marine, 33, 515–518.Google Scholar
Luczak, C., Dewarumez, J.-M. & Essink, K., 1993. First record of the American jack-knife clam Ensis directus on the French coast of the North Sea. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 73, 233–235.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maurer, D., Watling, L. & Aprill, G., 1974. The distribution and ecology of common marine and estuarine pelecypods in the Delaware Bay area. Nautilus, 88(2), 38–45.Google Scholar
Maurer, D., Kinner, P., Leathern, W. & Watling, L., 1976. Benthic faunal assemblages off the Delmarva peninsula. Estuarine and Coastal Marine Science, 4, 163–177.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McDermott, J.J., 1976. Predation of the razor clam Ensis directus by the nemertean worm Cerebratulus lacteus. Chesapeake Science, 17, 299–301.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mühlenhardt-Siegel, U., Dorjes, J. & Cosel, R. Von, 1983. Die amerikanische Schwertmuschel Ensis directus (Conrad) in der Deutschen Bucht. II. Populationsdynamik. Senckenbergiana Maritima, Frankfurt-am-Main, 15, 93–110.Google Scholar
Severijns, N. & Gilles, S., 1993. Waarnemingen van Ensis directus (Conrad, 1843) tussen Boulognesur-Mer en Le Touquet. Strandvlo, 13, 56–67.Google Scholar
Stanley, S.M., 1970. Relation of shell form to life habits of the Bivalvia (Mollusca). Memoirs. Geological Society of America, 125, 1–296.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Swennen, C., 1992. De groei van de Amerikaanse zwaardschede (Ensis americanus) in de Waddenzee. Zeepaard, 52, 129–131.Google Scholar
Swennen, C., Leopold, M.F. & Stock, M., 1985. Notes on growth and behaviour of the American razor clam Ensis directus in the Wadden Sea and the predation on it by birds. Helgolander Meeresuntersuchungen, 39, 255–261.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Urk, R.M. Van, 1987. Ensis americanus (Binney) (syn. E. directus auct. non Conrad) a recent introduction from Atlantic North-America. Journal of Conchology, 32, 329–333.Google Scholar
Wanink, J.H. & Zwarts, L., 1993. Environmental effects on the growth rate of intertidal invertebrates and some implications for foraging waders. Netherlands Journal of Sea Research, 31, 407–418.CrossRefGoogle Scholar