Search results for "Brachidontes pharaoni"

A new lessepsian species in the western Mediterranean ( Brachidontes pharaonis Bivalvia: Mytilidae): density, resource allocation and biomass

2008

The present study reports on population dynamics and growth performance relative to a lesser known exotic invasive species ( Brachidontes pharaonis ) inhabiting the southern Mediterranean. The study was carried out in western Sicily, where B. pharaonis is present on both the submerged and emerged surfaces of a hyperhaline saltpan. Individuals were scraped, counted and measured for shell length, total weight, somatic, gonadic and shell biomass. Brachidontes pharaonis intensively colonized all hard substrates of the saltpan with annual average densities of 375 ± 293 ind. 400 cm −2 with density peaks in autumn as a function of habitat. The occurrence of juveniles was different for mediolittora…

Heart beat rate adaptations to varying salinity of two intertidal Mediterranean bivalves: The invasiveBrachidontes pharaonisand the nativeMytilaster …

2011

Abstract Changes in heart beat rates (HBR) of Brachidontes pharaonis (an invasive Lessepsian species) and Mytilaster minimus (a native Mediterranean species) in response to changes in salinity values from brackish (20) to extreme hyper-saline (75) were investigated both in situ and in the laboratory. The two species displayed different responses to varying salinity, with clear differences in HBR observed between groups investigated at different salinities and between groups originating from different environments. The native species, adapted to narrow salinity changes as those observed in the superficial waters of the Mediterranean Sea, showed signs of stress at salinities slightly above 37…

Brachidontes pharaonis (Bivalvia, Mytilidae), a lessepsian invader from a problematic species-complex

2012

Multiple stressors facilitate the spread of a non-indigenous bivalve in the Mediterranean Sea

2018

Aim The introduction of non‐indigenous species (NIS) via man‐made corridors connecting previously disparate oceanic regions is increasing globally. However, the environmental and anthropogenic factors facilitating invasion dynamics and their interactions are still largely unknown. This study compiles and inputs available data for the NIS bivalve Brachidontes pharaonis across the invaded biogeographic range in the Mediterranean basin into a species distribution model to predict future spread under a range of marine scenarios. Location Mediterranean Sea. Methods A systematic review produced the largest presence database ever assembled to inform the selection of biological, chemical and physic…

Eco-physiological response of two marine bivalves to acute exposition to commercial Bt-based pesticide

2013

Microbial products based on the entomopathogenic bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) are among the most common biopesticides used worldwide to suppress insect pests in forests, horticulture and agricultural crops. Some of the effects of commercial Bt have been recorded for terrestrial and freshwater non-target organisms but little research is available on marine fauna. Nevertheless, due to the contiguity of agro-ecosystems and coastal habitats, marine fauna may be highly influenced by this control method. We studied the effect of a commercial Bt product on the physiological and ecological responses and the energy budget of two of the most frequent marine intertidal bivalves in the Mediter…

Life history traits to predict biogeographic species distributions in bivalves

2015

Organismal fecundity (F) and its relationship with body size (BS) are key factors in predicting species distribution under current and future scenarios of global change. A functional trait-based dynamic energy budget (FT-DEB) is proposed as a mechanistic approach to predict the variation of F and BS as function of environmental correlates using two marine bivalves as model species (Mytilus galloprovincialis and Brachidontes pharaonis). Validation proof of model skill (i.e., degree of correspondence between model predictions and field observations) and stationarity (i.e., ability of a model generated from data collected at one place/time to predict processes at another place/time) was provid…

Dynamic Energy Budget parameters of Brachidontes pharaonis, a lessepsian bivalve in the Mediterranean Sea.

2014

Dynamic Energy Budget (DEB) models are used for describing the flow of energy through organisms. The most important and powerful aspect of DEB theory is that inter-specific differences can be captured in the same model by comparison of parameter values. However, estimation of these parameters is complicated and can often not be done with direct empirical measurements alone. Here, we present DEB parameter estimates obtained by combining both experimental and literature data for the filter feeder Brachidontes pharaonis, which is considered one among the 100 worst invasive marine species in the Mediterranean Basin. We utilize a statistical procedure based on the covariation method to obtain pa…

Predicting biological invasions in marine habitats through eco-physiological mechanistic models: a case study with the bivalveBrachidontes pharaonis

2013

Aim We used a coupled biophysical ecology (BE)-physiological mechanistic modelling approach based on the Dynamic Energy Budget theory (DEB, Dynamic energy budget theory for metabolic organisation, 2010, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge; DEB) to generate spatially explicit predictions of physiological performance (maximal size and reproductive output) for the invasive mussel, Brachidontes pharaonis. Location We examined 26 sites throughout the central Mediterranean Sea. Methods We ran models under subtidal and intertidal conditions; hourly weather and water temperature data were obtained from the Italian Buoy Network, and monthly CHL-a data were obtained from satellite imagery. Results …

The new Lessepsian entry Brachidontes pharaonis (Fischer P., 1870) (Bivalvia, Mytilidae) in the western Mediterranean: A physiological analysis under…

2000

The feeding behavior of Brachidontes pharaonis (Mollusca, Bivalvia), a new Lessepsian entry in the western Mediterranean, living in a cooling vat of a saltworks system in western Sicily, was assessed by estimating its physiological rates throughout a 6 month-long study (May 1998 to March 1999). Clearance, filtration, ingestion, and food absorption rates were estimated using the biodeposition method and the results correlated to variations in temperature, salinity, and quality and quantity of available food. Measured seston concentrations were on average 81.5 ± 95.5 mg L-1, its labile fraction (estimated as the sum of particulate lipids, carbohydrates and proteins) was on average 0.55 ± 0.07…

Morphometric diversity of the mussel Brachidontes pharaonis in different coastal environments

2010

In the debate on how and why biodiversity evolves spatially and temporally and in an attempt to assess the further effects of anthropogenic activities, the ability of marine invertebrate to express a large spectrum of phenotypical plasticity can have a central role. The ability of a single genotype to produce more than one alternative form of morphology and/or physiological state should be larger in species living in highly changing waters like shallow habitats. Invertebrates, there, usually experience ample changes of temperature and food availability on annual, seasonal, diurnal and hourly bases which are the two main drivers leading the life histories of these organisms. In such circumst…