Bivalves

Clams, mussels, and other bivalves are a serious problem in many cooling water systems. Zebra mussels and freshwater Asiatic clams are relative newcomers to the United States. Because of a lack of natural predators and prodigious reproduction rates, they have rapidly become a serious threat to the operation of many cooling water systems. 

Bivalvia. The bivalve Pholas is historically important because the concept of luciferin-luciferase reaction was established with this clam (Dubois, 1887). It is the only bivalve that is well known and biochemically investigated. The details of the Pholas bioluminescence are given in Section 6.2. 

Dunstan, S. L., et al. (2000). Cloning and expression of the bioluminescent photoprotein pholasin from the bivalve mollusc Pholas dactylus. J. Biol. Chem. 275 9403-9409. 

The negative effects of TBT have been observed in the bivalve larval development of Crassostrea gigas, Mylilus edulisf Venus gallina, Spams aurata, in Nassarius reticulate and in the hermaphroditic snails Phisa fontinalis and Adelomelon brasiliana Since TBT exerts a variety of toxic actions on some mollusks and fishes , an adverse effect of TBT on human health is a real threat. ... 

Sensitivity of bivalves to the saxitoxins appears to be more general than has been recognized. Shellfish that contain levels of the saxitoxins that make them dangerous for human consumption can seldom be distinguished visibly from those that are safe. Nevertheless, detailed study has shown (64 R. Mann and S. Hall, unpublished results) that Alexandrium cells have significant effects on bivalve responses, presumably due to the contained saxitoxins. 

The saxitoxins accumulated from the plankton by molluscan filter-feeders can be passed on to other animals. Gastropods such as whelks, which prey on bivalves, have been found to be toxic, apparently from consuming toxic bivalves (65). Such... 

Three classes of polyethers, okadaic acid derivatives, pectenotoxins, and yessotoxin were isolated from bivalves in connection with diarrhetic shellfish poisoning. The etiology of the toxins, toxicological properties, and determination methods are described. 

Stanley, S. M. 1986. Anatomy of a regional mass extinction PUo-Pleistocene decimation of the western Atlantic bivalve fauna. Palaios 1 17-36. 

Ice scouring of the intertidal zone in arctic waters makes this virtually sterile. This was noted more than 170 years ago by Keilhau (1831)—so that attention was directed to components of the subtidal zone to which little attention had previously been directed, and which was expected to be particularly sensitive to oil spills. Changes in the components of the macrobenthos including infauna, epibenthos, and macroalgae were examined, and attention was also directed to the histopathological and biochemical responses of bivalve molluscs that were affected in different ways by exposure to the dispersed and the undispersed oil. 

Thomann RV, Mahoney JD, Mueller R. 1995. Steady-state model of biota sediment accumulation factor for metals in two marine bivalves. Environ Toxicol Chem 14 1989-1998. 

Figure 7. Excess activity versus depth (left) and X-radiograph (right) in a sediment core collected from the New York Bight, showing the importance of mixing by benthic fauna in the upper part of the seabed. Abundant individnals of the small bivalve Nucula proximo may be seen in the X-radiograph near the sediment-water interface, and the light-colored areas represent bnrrows of Nephtys sp. and Ceriantheopsis sp. Reprinted from Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science (formerly Estuarine and Coastal Marine Science) Vol. 9, Cochran and Aller, pp. 739-747, 1979, with permission from Elsevier Science.

Todoroki, N., Shibata, K., Yamada, T. Kera, Y., and Yamada, R. H., Determination of N-methyl-D-aspartate in tissues of bivalves by high-performance chromatography, /. Chromatogr. B, 728, 41, 1999. 

Coutts, P J. F. (1970), Bivalve growth patterning as a method of seasonal dating in archaeology, Nature 226, 874. 

Bangor Naval Submarine Base, on the Hood Canal in the State of Washington, provides fine recreational facilities for service people stationed there, as well as for civilian employees. A proposal to divert runoff from munitions-contaminated areas towards the recreational fishing pond, Cattail Lake, led to a decision to identify hazard levels for the compounds of interest. In addition to trout, there was concern over contamination of bivalves, such as oysters, cockles, and clams, at the pond s outlet to Hood Canal. Bioconcentration factors (BCFs), assumed applicable for both fish and bivalves, were developed for three compounds (Table III). BCFs, together with Uj. values and worst-case levels of fish or bivalve consumption (0.4 kg/day) provided PPLVs for the pond water, according to the equation... 

TNT, 1.7 x 10 1 2 3 4 5 RDX, 4.2 x 10-2 PGDN, 1.6 x 10 2. These very stringent values reflect the lifetime consumption of almost a pound of fish per person per day, and do not take into account the fact that whole fish generally contain more fat than the edible portions of fish or bivalves the BCFs reflect whole fish data. It is recommended that the foregoing values be used as detection limits for monitoring. If these are exceeded, the assumptions may need to be reconsidered, since they appear to be somewhat too stringent. 

The ability of bivalve molluscs to synthesize sterols is questioned [106]. Approximately forty sterols have been identified from the oyster Crassostrea virginica and, since it appeared that many of the sterols identified must be of dietary origin, the ability of the oyster to incorporate injected radioactive acetate was studied [110]. Of the forty sterols naturally occurring in the oyster, only four were labelled by injection of labelled acetate cholesterol, desmosterol, 24-methylenecholesterol and fucosterol. However, when an oyster hearth tissue culture was grown aseptically with addition of labelled acetate, the sterols were found to be non-radioactive [111], This finding does not rule out the possibility... 

Occurrence in molluscs of steroidogenesis along a pathway very similar to that found in vertebrates has been claimed. Testosterone (64) - androstenedione (65) interconversion has been demonstrated in gonads of the male and female bivalve - Mytilus edulis [117] and of the gastropod Crepidula fornicata [118], by using labelled testosterone and androstenedione. Moreover, several steroids have been identified in the gonads and hepatopancreas of the opisthobranch... 

Pholasin is the protein-bound luciferin from the bivalve mollusc Pholas dactylus. This substrate reacts with its luciferase and molecular oxygen to produce light. The photoprotein, commercially available, undergoes an oxidative... 

Zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) is a freshwater bivalve belonging to the Dreissenidae family. The common name, zebra, refers to the zebra stripes pattern on the shell and the scientific name, polymorpha, is derived from the many morphs or forms which occur in the shell color pattern, including albino and solid black or... 

Mackie GL (1991) Biology of the exotic zebra mussel, Dreissena-polymorpha, in relation to native bivalves and its potential impact in Lake St-Clair. Hydrobiologia 219 251-268... 

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