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Variable effects of ascidian competitors on oysters in a Florida epifaunal community

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Date Issued:
1993
Title: Variable effects of ascidian competitors on oysters in a Florida epifaunal community.
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Name(s): Dalby, James E., Jr., creator
Young, Craig M., creator
Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Article
Issuance: single unit
Date Issued: 1993
Publisher: Elsevier B.V.
Physical Description: text/pdf[12p.]
Language(s): English
Identifier: 3331868 (digitool), FADT3331868 (IID), fau:6128 (fedora), 10.1016/0022-0981(93)90183-O (doi)
Note(s): It is often assumed that sessile animals die when they are overgrown by others. Three settling plate experiments were run to determine whether ascidian overgrowth reduces the survivorship of the oyster, Ostrea equestris Say, in a Florida epifaunal community. Each experiment was run under a different set of conditions. Ascidians reduced the number of living oysters in two experiments but enhanced the number in a third. Ascidians had no effect on oyster size in one experiment, but enhanced size in the other two. Thus, there was no consistent effect of ascidians on oysters. At the end of all experiments, many living oysters were found under ascidians. Gaps beneath ascidians permitting water flow to underlying oysters may explain the ability of oysters to survive.
This manuscript is an author version with the final publication available at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00220981 and may be cited as: Dalby, Jr. J. E., & Young, C. M. (1993). Variable effects of ascidian competitors on oysters in a Florida epifaunal community. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 167(1), 47-57. doi:10.1016/0022-0981(93)90183-O
Florida Atlantic University. Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute contribution #931.
Subject(s): Oysters
Ascidians
Oysters--Ecology
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/FCLA/DT/3331868
Links: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0022-0981(93)90183-O
Restrictions on Access: ©1993 Elsevier B.V.
Host Institution: FAU