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The ichthyotoxic raphidophyte Heterosigma akashiwo is associated with harmful algal blooms (HABs). Although the influence of H. akashiwo on fish has been reported, little is known of its effects on other marine organisms, such as shellfish. In this study, the physiological and transcriptomic responses of the Asiatic hard clam Meretrix meretrix to H. akashiwo were investigated. The results showed that clam survival was not influenced by H. akashiwo (at a concentration of 2 × 104 cells/mL), and M. meretrix eliminated the alga effectively after 48 h in co-culture. H. akashiwo did not alter the antioxidant capacity of the clams. However, 544 unigenes were found to be differentially expressed between the control and H. akashiwo-treated clams. Interestingly, the significant up-regulation of lysosome-related genes and transport proteins suggested remodeling of the clam metabolism possibly for digestion of H. akashiwo. In summary, our results indicate that the clam M. meretrix can effectively feed on H. akashiwo, and intensification of shellfish farming may be helpful to control and mitigate H. akashiwo blooms.

It has been demonstrated that the sekelsky mothers against decapentaplegic homolog 3 (Smad3) plays an important role in the growth and development of vertebrates. However, little is known about the association between the Smad3 gene and the growth traits of mollusks. In this study, Smad3 from the hard clam Meretrix meretrix (Mm-Smad3) was cloned, characterized, and screened for growth-related single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in its exons. The full-length cDNA of Mm-Smad3 was 1938 bp, encoding a protein with 428 amino acid residues. The protein sequence included an MH1 (27–135 aa) and MH2 domain (233–404 aa). Promoter analysis showed that the promoter sequence of Mm-Smad3 was 2548 bp, and the binding sites of Pit-1a, Antp, Hb, and other transcription factors are related to the growth and development of hard clams. The phylogenetic tree was divided into two major clusters, including mollusks and vertebrate. The expression level of Mm-Smad3 was predominantly detected in the mantle and foot, while extremely less expression was observed in the digestive gland. The low expression level of Mm-Smad3 was detected at the stages of unfertilized mature eggs, fertilized eggs, four-cell embryos, blastula, gastrulae, trochophore, and D-shaped larvae, whereas an opposite trend was observed regarding the highest expression at the umbo larvae stage (p < 0.05). In the mantle repair experiment, the time-course expression profiles showed that compared to the expression level at 0 h, Mm-Smad3 significantly decreased at 6 h (p < 0.05) but increased at 12 and 48 h. Further, the association analysis identified 11 SNPs in the exons of Mm-Smad3, of which three loci (c.597 C > T, c.660 C > T, c.792 A > T) were significantly related to the growth traits of clam (p < 0.05). Overall, our findings indicated that Mm-Smad3 is a growth-related gene and the detected SNP sites provide growth-related markers for molecular marker-assisted breeding of this species.

Despite mass mortality, hard clams remain among the main cultured shellfish in Taiwan. Using cross-sectional data, this study applies threshold regression modeling with stocking density and feed costs as the threshold variables to explore the nonlinear relationship between input and output factors. The findings show that the production output levels may be increased by different combinations of factor inputs and variations in input factors. More specifically, the higher output levels may be achieved by increasing labor input while reducing capital input factors in farming households with a higher stocking density (HSD > 1,087,870 inds/ha) or higher feed cost (HFC > 13,889 NTD/ha). Farming households with a lower stocking density (LSD ≤ 1,087,870 inds/ha) may enhance production output levels by increasing feed input while reducing capital inputs. Moreover, the maximum output level of HSD and HFC farming households was estimated to reach 9255 kg/ha and 9807 kg/ha, respectively. Results of the production output simulation suggest that the feeding cost per hectare in LSD households should not exceed 25,119 NTD to avoid overfeeding, which may cause culture deterioration and lower survival rates. As such, farmers are advised to adjust their feed costs according to the stocking density to maximize production output.

The activity of benthic organisms can strongly influence sediment dynamics in an intertidal flat. However, few studies have conducted a quantitative assessments of the effect of benthic organisms on erosion-accretion processes under field conditions. The aim of this study was to quantify the effects of the benthic clam Meretrix meretrix Linnaeus (M. meretrix) on bed erodibility and sediment erosion-accretion processes in an intertidal flat. Within the cultivation zone at site A, M. meretrix is present in large numbers (up to 137 individuals per square meter). On the other hand, site B is located outside the cultivation zone. At this site, which is only 500 m away from site A alongshore, M. meretrix forms a sparse population with only 3.7 individuals per square meter. The results showed that the critical shear stress for erosion, denoted by τce, was 0.22 and 0.32 N/m2 at sites A and B, respectively, and the magnitudes of bed-level change were significantly higher at site A than site B. These results reveal the large effect of M. meretrix on decreasing τce, augmenting the erosion rate when the bed shear stress due to combined currents and waves, denoted by τcw, was higher than τce, and conversely enhancing the accretion rate when τcw < τce. The changes induced in these parameters are likely to have a large impact on model predictions of bed erodibility, sedimentary processes, and morphological evolution. Thus, integrated field measurements of hydrodynamic and bed-level changes, accompanied by simultaneous biological sampling, may help to improve the parameterization of hydro-sedimentary and morphodynamic models for shallow-water environments. Fil: Shi, Benwei. East China Normal University; China. Tongji University; China Fil: Pratolongo, Paula Daniela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Biología, Bioquímica y Farmacia; Argentina Fil: Du, Yongfen. Nanjing Normal University; China Fil: Li, Jiasheng. Nanjing University; China Fil: Yang, S. L.. East China Normal University; China Fil: Wu, Jihua. Fudan University; China Fil: Xu, Kehui. State University of Louisiana; Estados Unidos Fil: Wang, Ya Ping. East China Normal University; China

To evaluate the pollution level of marine environment received treated municipal effluent (TME), the water quality classification index (WQCI) capable of integrating biomarker results into a four-level pollution for effluent assessment was proposed and applied. The WQCI calculation was that of the integrated biomarker responses vesion 2 (IBRv2) index based on the expert system classification scale. In this research, mussels of Meretrix meretrix were treated with different effluent volume ratios (EVRs, 0–40%, v/v) for 12 days, six biomarkers of oxidative stress, metal exposure and neurotoxicity in both gills and digestive glands as well as the other two biomarkers of general health and genotoxicity in hemocytes were measured. Then based on the correlation analysis between the response of biomarkers and EVRs, the lysosomal membrane stability (LMS) and micronucleus frequency (MF) in hemocytes, glutathione (GSH) and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) in gills were chosen to calculate the IBRv2 and WQCI. The results showed that the control (EVR = 0%) was defined as Level I, EVR of 1–5% as Level II, EVR of 10–30% as Level III, and EVR of 40% as Level IV. In addition, two other sets of data of biomarkers in previous studies were used to test the applicability of the classification scheme established. The WQCI values and the evaluation results based on them were almost identical to those obtained by using the first set of data. This study is the first attempt to develop an index on water quality assessment of marine environment received discharged effluent from a biological perspective. The findings confirm that WQCI offers a potential measurement of water quality evaluation of marine environment and possible to be a water quality standard.

This paper presents results of a laboratory study designed to assess the impact of pollution in Espirito Santo Estuary, Mozambique, by the use of scope for growth (SFG) and condition indices in the clam Meretrix meretrix . Low energy balances were observed at all sites from the estuary (0.91–2.89 J h −1 g −1 ) as well as from the comparison site (2.57 J h −1 g −1 ). Lowest condition index was observed in clams from the comparison site. Results from the present study indicate symptoms of stress and impact of pollution, and whether M. meretrix is a suitable candidate species for further studies of environmental contamination in coastal regions. This study is to our knowledge the first to investigate the energy available for growth in M. meretrix in its southern area of distribution.

The thick-shelled clam Meretrix morphina, previously referred to as Meretrix meretrix, now occurs in the west Indian Ocean region, along the eastern seaboard of Africa, from the Red Sea to the Mlalazi Estuary, close to the Tugela River. Its presence in South Africa is only of recent recording. Meretrix morphina was detected for the first time in Lake St Lucia in 2000. The population declined and was not detected from 2005 until 2011, most likely as a result of a severe drought that resulted in widespread desiccation and hypersalinity in the lake. The system then experienced increased freshwater input resulting in lower salinities from 2011 until 2014, during which time M. morphina reappeared and their population gradually increased. In 2015, M. morphina became abundant in St Lucia, attaining unprecedented densities of 447 ind./m2. Biomass, expressed as a fresh weight, varied in the different basins of St Lucia, ranging from 195 g/m2 at Lister’s Point to 1909.8 g/m2 at Catalina Bay. However, in 2016, when drought conditions returned, M. morphina disappeared. This species appears to thrive under brackish salinities and high temperatures. It is able to establish large populations with high biomass and can become dominant. However, M. morphina is sensitive to desiccation and hypersaline conditions. This clam has substantial commercial value and is exploited along the African east coast, particularly in Mozambique. In future, it may feature more prominently in South African estuaries. However, the ecology of M. morphina is still largely unknown. Significance: First record of population irruption of M. morphina in South Africa. Report on the largely unknown ecology of a commercially valuable bivalve. Update on the taxonomy and poleward spread of M. morphina.

A 3×3 complete diallel cross comprising three families of the clam Meretrix meretrix (P1, P2 and P3) was used to determine the combining ability of parental families and heterosis of F1 under indoor and openair environments for growth traits. Analysis of variance for shell length and whole body weight indicated highly significant cross effects, environment effects and the interaction of cross by environment. General combining ability (GCA) and specific combing ability exhibited great variation among crosses and between two environments. Pooled over environments, P2 was the top combiner among the three parental families for both traits studied. The cross of P1 and P3 had the highest SCA. Additionally, significant reciprocal effects were observed. For individual environment, about half of the crossbred combinations showed favorable Mid-parent heterosis (MPH) (>1%) for the shell length and whole body weight. Our data has shown that non-additive genetic and reciprocal effects constituted the major sources of genetic variation for both shell length and whole body weight, which indicates that crossbreeding among selective families could further explore the heterotic effects.

Unbalanced parental contribution and small effective population size (N (e)) are common issues during the artificial breeding of marine bivalves. The impact of hatchery-spawning practices on parental contribution, effective population size, the N (e)/N ratio, and genetic diversity are largely unknown. To address this, we conducted a parentage analysis on a complete 3x3 diallel cross of clam M eretrix meretrix using eight microsatellite markers. The genetic diversity of the parents was higher than that of their respective offspring in most crosses (8/9). Sires or dams from the same family contributed unequally to the pool of offspring from a particular cross, and the same parent clam exhibited large variation in parental contribution among different crosses. The variance in male contribution was higher than that of the female contribution in most crosses, suggesting that male contribution was more skewed than for females. The N (e)/N ratio for nine crosses ranged from 0.58 to 0.86. There was no linear relationship between the sex ratio and the N (e)/N ratio (P > 0.05). Moreover, a sex ratio closer to one-to-one does not necessarily mean a larger effective population size. A solution to small effective population size in commercial breeding programs is increasing broodstock numbers and attempting to maintain a balanced sex ratio.

A breeding-selection program for the clam, Meretrix meretrix, was conducted since 2004. Two of the selection populationswere generated with the shell color pattern as an additional selection criterion and named as SP (purple stripes) population and SB (black dots) population. The third-generation SP and SB populations (08G3SP and 08G3SB, respectively) were cultured at two commercial clam farms and a nursery pond and their shell lengths were compared. 08G3SB clams had significantly larger sizes than 08G3SP clams at commercial clam farms (p < 0.05), yet 08G3SB individuals were significantly smaller than 08G3SP individuals at the nursery pond (p < 0.05). Then, we examined the growth of the fourth-generation SP and SB populations (10G4SP and 10G4SB, respectively) at a commercial farm, and found that the shell lengths of the 10G4SB clams increased at a significantly higher growth rate than the 10G4SP clams (p < 0.05) from May to September, when the water temperature was between 24.2-27.5A degrees C, while 10G4SB lost the growth advantage in the other months. These results indicated that SP and SB populations responded differently to environmental factors, so it is beneficial for the clam farmers to select a suitable population according to the culture environment. Furthermore, a diallel mating of the SB and SP populations was designed to investigate whether their hybrid population would show heterosis. However, the heterosis was not shown in this study, whichmight result from the slight genetic divergence between SB and SP populations.

The hard clam (Meretrix meretrix) is a commercially important maricultured shellfish in China. The transcriptome data of M. meretrix provided a valuable resource to mining large amount of EST-SSR markers quickly and cost-effectively. Here we isolated and characterized 53 novel polymorphic EST-SSR markers in 30 individuals. The number of alleles varied from 2 to 8, with an average of 4.19 alleles per locus. The observed and expected heterozygosities ranged from 0.040 to 1.000 and from 0.040 to 0.799, respectively. Thirty-one loci significantly deviated from HWE (P < 0.01) after Bonferroni correction. Interspecific transferability revealed that 19 polymorphic loci in Meretrixlamarckii and 10 in Meretrix lyrata were firstly characterized. These novel polymorphic SSR markers will be particularly useful for further diversity analysis, evolutionary studies, genetic trait mapping and marker assisted selection.

Three wild populations of Meretrix meretrix sampled from Dongxing, Beihai, and Shankou along the coast of Guangxi, China, were investigated with morphometry and karyometry. Six morphological indices (shell length, shell height, shell width, hinge length, total wet weight and shell weight) were measured. Differences in all morphological indices except hinge length were significant among the three populations (P 0.05). However, the order of metacentric, submetacentric and subtelocentric chromosome pairs was variable among the three populations. The results indicate a high level of inter-population variation in morphology and karyotype.

Meretrix meretrix L. was held in the laboratory under simulated natural conditions to measure specific physiological parameters of its energy budget. O2 consumption rate, NH3 excretion rate (NR), ingestion rate, faeces excretion rate and scope for growth (SFG) were negatively related in an exponential manner to the fresh weight of the clams at all water temperatures, while almost all metabolic rates of the clams were positively related in an exponential or e-exponential manner with water temperature. However, the co-relationship between metabolic rates and water temperature was not as close as that between metabolic rates and fresh weight of the clam. The combined effect of fresh weight and water temperature was observed on all metabolic rates except for NR and SFG. At all culture temperatures and for all fresh weights of clams used, respiration took the largest percentage of ingested energy (41.5–51.2%), faeces excretion was second (31.0–42.3%), growth third (12.1–15.5%) and urine production last (2.1–5.6%).

The clam Meretrix meretrix is an important commercial bivalve distributed in the coastal areas of South and Southeast Asia. In this study, marker trait association analyses were performed based on the stock materials of M. meretrix with different vibrio-resistance profile obtained by selective breeding. Forty-eight EST-SSR markers were screened and 27 polymorphic SSRs of them were genotyped in the clam stocks with different resistance to Vibrio parahaemolyticus (11-R and 11-S) and to Vibrio harveyi (09-R and 09-C). Allele frequency distributions of the SSRs among different stocks were compared using Pearson's Chi-square test, and three functional EST-SSR markers (MM959, MM4765 and MM8364) were found to be associated with vibrio-resistance trait. The 140-bp allele of MM959 and 128-bp allele of MM4765 had significantly higher frequencies in resistant groups (11-R and 09-R) than in susceptive/control groups (11-S and 09-C) (P < 0.01), which suggested that the clams carrying these two alleles have stronger resistance against vibrio. Clam individuals of 11-S were divided into three subgroups based on the survival time post-challenge, and the multi-dimensional scaling (MDS) analysis showed that clusters generated by genetic similarity revealed by the three SSR markers were consistent with the three subgroups distinctions. The putative functions of contig959, contig4765 and contig8364 also suggested that the three SSR-involved genes might play important roles in immunity of M. meretrix. All these results supported that EST-SSR markers MM959, MM4765 and MM8364 were associated with vibrio-resistance and would be useful for marker-assisted selection (MAS) in M. meretrix genetic breeding. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The respiration and excretion rates of Meretrix meretrix at different salinities were studied at 20°C in laboratory in December 2008. 1) It was shown that the effects of salinity on oxygen consumption rate(OR) and ammonia excretion rate(NR) in Meretrix meretrix are extremely significant(pA0.05), when salinity changes from 8.2 to 28.1. 2) At the same time, the trend of ratio of O/N shows first increased and then decreased with the raise of salinity, moreover, and the ratio O/ N of the largest is 11.38 at 28.1.

The tidal rhythms for changes in morphology, length, dry weight and protein content of the crystalline style are studied in two venerid clams,Meretrix meretrix andKatelysia opima and in a donacid clam,Donax cuneatus. In the two venerid clams the style is housed in a sac conjoined with midgut and there is a tidal rhythm of feeding and extracellular digestion involving a partial dissolution of the style in the ebb tide and reformation in flood tide. But in the donacid clam where the style sac is completely separated from midgut, no detectable changes in the style parameters are recorded during a tidal cycle. However, the rhythmicity in feeding activity is indicated, by the presence of ‘mudcap’ and food particles in the style during flood tide and their subsequent absence during ebb tide. Hence the tidal rhythm of feeding and digestion inDonax cuneatus may be without corresponding changes in the crystalline style. Also this study throws light on the mode of style dissolution.

A comparative study of the pH of crystalline style, digestive diverticula and stomach fluid in six bivalve species,Anadara rhombea, Crassostrea madrasensis, Meretrix meretrix, M. casta, Katelysia opima andDonax cuneatus revealed that the digestive diverticula are more acidic while crystalline style is either slightly acidic or nearly neutral. The significance of this finding is discussed. In vitro dissolution of crystalline style of all the six species in buffer solutions of varying pH from 3·6 to 9·0 was observed and the study indicated that the optimum pH for style dissolution is around 8·0 in all species exceptingDonax cuneatus where some dissolution was recorded only at pH 9·0. Based on the physical changes observed in the style, a mechanism of style dissolution has been put forward.

Accumulation and excretion of crude- and prep'd-106Ru by the clam, Meretrix meretrix lusoria, were investigated under laboratory conditions. Accumulation of 106Ru by the clam reached equilibrium approximately 2 weeks after immersion in sea water. The radioactivity ratio of prepared ruthenium-106 complexes was higher than that of the crude ones. After 100 days of uptake experiment, radioactivity ratio of the edible part with both chemical forms showed less than 5.0. The highest radioactivity ratio was observed in mid gut gland, which was about an order of 40. And approximately 30% of the total radioactivity accumulated in whole soft tissues was concentrated in mid gut gland which occupies only 7% to the whole soft tissues in weight. The concept of the specific surface area should be taken into consideration for the tissues which contact directly with environmental sea water. In both chemical forms of prep'd-106Ru, approximately 25% of accumulated radioactivity was lost from the whole body of the living clam during 40 days of loss experiment. The biological half lives of the short component and the long component were 49 days and 167 days respectively for prep'd-106Ru•Clx, while 39 days and 121 days were for prep'd-106RuNO•Clx. The radioactivity loss from the whole body of the living clam observed in the initial stage was attributable to the physiological activity of the living clam through the metabolic pathway, because the affinity of 106Ru with the surface of the shell or the tissues seemed to be fairly tight.

The ciliary movement of the gills of Meretrix meretrix (LINNE) as studied by the method of NOMURA and TOMITA in sea water, with its density 1•0200 at 15C, is shown in Fig. 1. The maximum value 1.27cm/min was got at a temperature 25.5C. The movement in question was almost null at temperatures 1•5°C and 41°C.