Mytilus Californianus Lab Report
The Mytilus californianus: The Larvae’s Ecological Niche a Trade-offs of becoming an Adult
Marine organisms that have a larvae stage dependent on wind waves to move and settle in an environment, where they develop to adults and recruit. The Mytilus californianus has a larvae stage and as the waves break into the surface of the pier pilings in Santa Monica, the larvae stick to the hard substrate that the vertical columns provide. The random placement of the larvae on the pier piling is what determines how much stress and nutrients that individual larvae will receive as it develops to an adult. Studies conducted in a lab with different mussel species have shown that growth is determined by the nutrients it receives and the quality of nutrients …show more content…
Then, I proceeded to collect ten muscles from each section: top, middle, and bottom on the vertical column for the six pier columns. The top section is mostly dry. The middle section is partly exposed during the low tide. The bottom section of the pier column is mostly wet. After collecting the mussels I measured each mussel and record the height in centimeters with a caliper without mixing the mussels I collected from the top, middle, and bottom for each pier column. I used a one way ANOVA to compare the size of the mussels between the top, middle, and bottom zone for each six pier pilings.
Results: Zones of Intolerance for the M. californianus: An Indicator of a Breached Ecological Niche
The size of mussels were significantly different based on their location on the vertical column (F2,17 =69.1 , p =<0.0001).
In this study—the bottom section of all six pier pilings had the largest size M. californianus. The middle section consisted of a mixture of small, medium, and large mussels of the species: Septifer bifurcatus. The top section consisted of small M. californianus.
Discussion: The Challenge of Understanding the Norm of
Marine organisms that have a larvae stage dependent on wind waves to move and settle in an environment, where they develop to adults and recruit. The Mytilus californianus has a larvae stage and as the waves break into the surface of the pier pilings in Santa Monica, the larvae stick to the hard substrate that the vertical columns provide. The random placement of the larvae on the pier piling is what determines how much stress and nutrients that individual larvae will receive as it develops to an adult. Studies conducted in a lab with different mussel species have shown that growth is determined by the nutrients it receives and the quality of nutrients …show more content…
Then, I proceeded to collect ten muscles from each section: top, middle, and bottom on the vertical column for the six pier columns. The top section is mostly dry. The middle section is partly exposed during the low tide. The bottom section of the pier column is mostly wet. After collecting the mussels I measured each mussel and record the height in centimeters with a caliper without mixing the mussels I collected from the top, middle, and bottom for each pier column. I used a one way ANOVA to compare the size of the mussels between the top, middle, and bottom zone for each six pier pilings.
Results: Zones of Intolerance for the M. californianus: An Indicator of a Breached Ecological Niche
The size of mussels were significantly different based on their location on the vertical column (F2,17 =69.1 , p =<0.0001).
In this study—the bottom section of all six pier pilings had the largest size M. californianus. The middle section consisted of a mixture of small, medium, and large mussels of the species: Septifer bifurcatus. The top section consisted of small M. californianus.
Discussion: The Challenge of Understanding the Norm of