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Ribbed Mussels Continue to Feed and Biodeposit in the Presence of Injured Conspecifics and Predators

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Abstract

Species interactions may mediate the ability of organisms and communities to provide valued services but are rarely considered in forecasting how service provisioning will change as restored communities mature and change in species composition. Bivalves are foundational species in many communities that contribute to services such as habitat provisioning, water filtration, and denitrification but that also may respond to predator presence by reducing activity. Filtering and biodeposition rates of ribbed mussels (Geukensia demissa) in the presence of predators (blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus), oyster drills (Urosalpinx cinerea)), injured conspecifics, or other local species (mud snails, Tritia obsoleta) were compared in laboratory experiments conducted in July–August 2019 in the Hudson River estuary (New York, USA). The effect of predator diet on ribbed mussel responses was also considered. Although mussels tended to be less active in the presence of predators and injured conspecifics, significant decreases were observed in few traits, and there was no evidence that predator diet influenced mussel responses. Variability in feeding rates and other factors such as water quality may play a larger role than predator presence in determining mussel activity. These results suggest that G. demissa will continue to provide positive impacts on water clarity and quality and increase denitrification rates via biodeposition even as restored communities attract predators.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the staff at The River Project Wetlab for sharing their laboratory space. We would also like to thank undergraduates from the Brooklyn Urban Ecology and Environment Program (Lorel Shaw and Valerie Kim), Baruch College undergraduates from the Gosnell Lab (Victor Siev, Brian Law, and Caroline Wojtowicz), and high school students (Liza Konopleva) from the Baruch College Now Program (Melissa Celik, Almedina Mulic, Brian Yeung, and Jun Qing Zhang) who helped with the data collection and sample processing.

Funding

This study was financially supported by the Science Resilience Institute at Jamaica Bay (Brooklyn, New York).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. PhD Program in Biology, The Graduate Center of the City University of New York, 365 Fifth Avenue, Room 4315, New York, NY, 10016, USA

    Jennifer Zhu & J. Stephen Gosnell

  2. Department of Natural Sciences, Baruch College CUNY, 17 Lexington Avenue, Box A-920, New York, NY, 10010, USA

    Jennifer Zhu & J. Stephen Gosnell

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  1. Jennifer Zhu
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  2. J. Stephen Gosnell
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Correspondence to Jennifer Zhu.

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Communicated by Judy Grassle

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Zhu, J., Gosnell, J.S. Ribbed Mussels Continue to Feed and Biodeposit in the Presence of Injured Conspecifics and Predators. Estuaries and Coasts 44, 875–882 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-020-00794-1

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