Cannibalism popular with mussels
Scoop Image - Digital effects Lyndon Hood
Cannibalism, thought to be relatively rare in the animal kingdom, has been found to be prevalent among the green-lipped
mussel.
AUT University marine ecology and aquaculture senior lecturer Dr Andrea Alfaro’s paper exploring mussel cannibalism was
recently published in the Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology.
Dr Alfaro collected adult mussels from three intertidal mussel beds along the Far North’s Ninety Mile Beach between
August 2000 and March 2001 and analysed their gut contents.
She found they ate mussel larvae, as well as juveniles and small adults up to 2.4mm long. During August 70% of the
plankton population the adults feed on was composed of larvae and juveniles and this increased to 99% in March.
"The high rate of cannibalism during some months of the year suggests this source of food may significantly contribute
to their overall energy budget," says Dr Alfaro.
“In fact, the large numbers of larvae that mussels produce may not go to waste, but may serve as nutritious food for
older adults.”
Dr Alfaro is the only scientist to have studied the Ninety Mile Beach mussel population and has published numerous
papers on the New Zealand green-lipped mussel.
For more information about AUT’s applied sciences faculty, or to read the paper in full, visit
http://www.aut.ac.nz/schools/applied_sciences/links.htm
ENDS