Year: 1993
Type: article
Abstract: Experiments conducted by keeping mussel larvae in filtered sea water along with \nfragments of Viva sp., Chaetomorpha sp. and Cladophora sp. capable of readily releasing \ngametes in the medium showed that the larvae could metamorphose to settling stage with in 15 \nto 18 days by actively feeding on the gametes released by these algae. It is also noticed that the \nbreeding cycle of the above algae along with the other algae in the locality coincides with the \npeak breeding period of mussel in Vizhinjam and in other mussel bed areas. The asexual \nreproductive products of these algae have also been observed to play in similar role as diet of the \nlarvae and adult mussels. \nThe study shows that gametes and other reprouuctive cells released by algae form a \nmicroleval food chain in the aquatic medium enriching the ecosystem. The paper emphasises a \nnew line of investigation to find out the impact of this micro level food chain to improve the fish \nand shellfish production in coastal brackish water and fresh water ecosystems by comparing the \nrole of other algal groups on a global basis. \nEventhough considerahle work has be~n done on a global on the reproduction and \npropagation of algae, the biologists throughout the world have been concentrating mostly on the \nbiology of reproduction in these groups. However. the role of the gametes and other asexually \nreleased products in the aquatic medium other than their natural proc~s of propagation has not \nbeen studied. \nAmong a few important works on algae the reviews on the reproduction of algae made \nby Bold and Wynne(1978) Fritsch (1977) and Bhatia (1975) are worth mentioning and they give \na broad picture on the alternation of generations and the reproductive behaviour of the marine,
Authors: Gopal Achari, Rani Mary George, K T Thomas, Joseph P. Mathew
Language: English
Subfield: Oceanography
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Life below water
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2139389443