Bivalve aquaculture is an important and rapidly expanding sector in global food production, yet climate change presents numerous challenges to its continued expansion. The Atlantic surfclam Spisula solidissima is emerging as an attractive alternate species for aquaculturists across the northeastern United States since it is native, grows rapidly, and complements the region’s established farming framework. However, the species is vulnerable to prolonged high temperature conditions, an issue that will be exacerbated by rising ocean temperatures and is particularly problematic on shallow coastal farms. In this study, we evaluated the response of adult farmed Atlantic surfclams to heat stress after juvenile exposure and the ability for heat tolerance to be passed to subsequent generations. We found that when juvenile Atlantic surfclams were exposed to prolonged lethal temperatures, the adult survivors withstood subsequent heat stress for significantly longer than individuals not exposed to lethal temperatures as juveniles. We also found that selective breeding enhanced heat tolerance in first‐generation Atlantic surfclam progeny. Moreover, growth of the heat‐selected progeny was not significantly different from that of control Atlantic surfclams. Although more research on this topic is necessary, this work suggests that selective breeding may be a viable strategy for enhancing survival of cultivated bivalves vulnerable to heat stress.

中文翻译：

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探索选择性繁殖养殖大西洋海浪螺旋藻以提高耐热性的可行性

双壳类水产养殖是全球粮食生产中一个重要且正在迅速扩大的部门，然而气候变化对其持续发展提出了许多挑战。大西洋冲浪螺螺旋藻由于其原生，快速生长并补充了该地区已建立的养殖框架，因此它已成为美国东北部水产养殖者的一个有吸引力的替代物种。然而，该物种易受长期高温条件的影响，海洋温度升高将加剧该问题，在沿海浅水养殖场尤其成问题。在这项研究中，我们评估了成年养殖的大西洋冲浪板在青少年接触后对热应激的反应以及将耐热性传递给后代的能力。我们发现，当青少年大西洋沿岸小气候暴露于延长的致死温度下时，成年幸存者承受的后续热应激的时间长于未遭受作为青少年的致死温度的个体。我们还发现，选择性育种提高了第一代大西洋surfclam后代的耐热性。此外，热选后代的生长与对照大西洋海浪的生长没有显着差异。尽管有必要对此主题进行更多研究，但这项工作表明选择性育种可能是提高易受热胁迫的双壳贝类存活率的可行策略。