Tissue sampling from live blue mussels,Mytilus edulis. A field study from the Swedish west coast |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Spatial Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Sea Research, P.O. Box 140, 4400AC Yerseke, The Netherlands;2. Community and Conservation Ecology Group, Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies (CEES), University of Groningen, P.O. Box 1103, 99700 CC Groningen, The Netherlands;3. Department of Marine Ecology, NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, P.O. Box 59, 1790 AB Den Burg, Texel, The Netherlands;4. Animal Ecology Group, Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies (CEES), University of Groningen, P.O. Box 11103, 9700 CC Groningen, The Netherlands;5. Institute of Marine Resources & Ecosystem Studies (IMARES), Wageningen University & Research Center, P.O. Box 167, 1797 SZ ''t Horntje, The Netherlands;6. Department of Aquatic Ecology and Environmental Biology, Institute for Water and Wetland Research, Radboud University Nijmegen, Faculty of Science, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525 AJ Nijmegen, The Netherlands;1. DHI, DK-2970, Hørsholm, Denmark;2. Estonian Marine Institute, University of Tartu, EE-12618, Tallinn, Estonia |
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| Abstract: | Histological techniques are often used to study environmental effects on mussels, but since these techniques include killing of the individuals, rare or endangered populations cannot be studied using conventional tissue sampling. This study is an attempt to find a method that can be used repeatedly with the same mussel individual and which does not affect growth and survival. From 200 mussels, Mytilus edulis, tissue was sampled in different ways, such as drilling a hole in the shell or prising apart the shell valves. Two kind of instruments were used, an injection needle and surgery forceps. Some of the drilled mussels had their holes sealed again with cement.Drilling a hole in the shell, removing tissue sample with surgical forceps and then leaving the holes open did not seriously harm the mussels during the two months the experiment lasted. But if the holes were sealed with cement, both length and weight growth were negatively affected (35% lower length growth and 36% lower weight growth compared to the control mussels). Mortality was highest among the drilled and sealed mussels (80% higher than among the other treatments). The vulnerability of the population, the aim of the study and the duration of the experiment should decide what method to use for tissue sampling. For long-term experiments and repeated sampling, opening the mussels by prizing apart the valves is a better alternative than drilling holes in the shells, but depending on the morphology of the species it could be difficult to sample the anterior part of the mussel body. For a short experiment and to sample anterior parts, drilling the shells, leaving the holes open and using surgical forceps, seems to be an acceptable compromise between the different treatments used. |
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