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Updated: Mar 6, 2026
Design and Use of an Apparatus for Quantifying Bivalve Suspension Feeding at Sea
Published on: September 5, 2018
Mass and metabolism of a mussel bed
Scott W Nixon1, Candace A Oviatt1, Caroline Rogers1
1Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, 02881, Kingston, R. I., U.S.A.
Abstract:
A mussel bed dominated by Mytilus edulis contained large concentrations of living consumer biomass, with over 14 kg dry weight/m2 distributed among eleven species. An additional 14.4 kg dry weight/m2 was present as empty shell fragments that contributed to community structure. Field measurements of community respiration for this dense animal system showed a roughly hyperbolic response to increasing current speed. In still water, oxygen uptake was 0.2g O2/m2/hr while in currents over 0.1 m/sec it quickly rose to about 2.7 g O2/m2/hr.
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