Bivalve molluscs (e.g., clams, oysters, scallops) are among the most important members of bottom-dwelling communities, both for their environmental impacts and commercial value. They possess highly efficient and complicated mechanisms for filtering the water around them, and capturing and sorting particles therein. Their feeding processes strongly couple water-column and bottom communities, and thus they can influence the general well-being of other organisms as well as the overall environment. Because these organisms play such a key role in ecosystems, it is important to understand how they process particulate matter, sorting food from non-food particles, and what factors control the process.
In this research, scientists from two universities will use their previously developed techniques of feeding physiology and biochemistry to address, for the first time, the bases of selection at the cell and organ level to address long-standing questions regarding the mechanism(s) by which bivalves and other suspension feeders accomplish particle selection. At the core of this research are two fundamental questions: 1) Is particle selection an active process, i.e., based on chemically mediated behavior, or a passive process, i.e., based on interactions between particles and mucus-coated feeding structures?; and 2) Do different groups of suspension-feeding molluscs, employ the same or different mechanisms for particle discrimination? Results from this research will provide a better understanding of feeding processes in different species of bivalves, the potential impact of bivalves on coastal environments, and how environmental perturbations (e.g., pollution) might affect particle feeding. Results will be relevant to ecosystem health and shellfish restoration.
The study links government and university scientists, and enhances cross-fertilization of ideas and techniques. Broader impacts of the work will include training of graduate and undergraduate students who will be involved in various aspects of the research and will participate in scientific conferences. Results will be disseminated through scientific literature, conferences, and articles for non-specialists. Working with K-12 educators, the researchers will develop age-appropriate educational packets that will demonstrate fundamental biological principles of an ecologically and economically important group of marine animals in understandable, real-world terms.
