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The University of Southern Mississippi The Aquila Digital Community Dissertations Summer 8-1-2017 An Ecological Examination of Johnson Bayou (Pass Christian, MS) With a Reproductive Histological Analysis of Rangia cuneata, and a Comparative Morphological Study of the Foot and Shell of Rangia cuneata and Polymesoda caroliniana Brandon Drescher University of Southern Mississippi Follow this and additional works at: https://aquila.usm.edu/dissertations Part of the Biology Commons Recommended Citation Drescher, Brandon, "An Ecological Examination of Johnson Bayou (Pass Christian, MS) With a Reproductive Histological Analysis of Rangia cuneata, and a Comparative Morphological Study of the Foot and Shell of Rangia cuneata and Polymesoda caroliniana" (2017). Dissertations. 1426. https://aquila.usm.edu/dissertations/1426 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by The Aquila Digital Community. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of The Aquila Digital Community. For more information, please contact [email protected]. AN ECOLOGICAL EXAMINATION OF JOHNSON BAYOU (PASS CHRISTIAN, MS) WITH A REPRODUCTIVE HISTOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF RANGIA CUNEATA, AND A COMPARATIVE MORPHOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE FOOT AND SHELL OF RANGIA CUNEATA AND POLYMESODA CAROLINIANA by Brandon David Drescher A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate School, the College of Science and Technology, and the Department of Biological Sciences at The University of Southern Mississippi in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy August 2017 AN ECOLOGICAL EXAMINATION OF JOHNSON BAYOU (PASS CHRISTIAN, MS) WITH A REPRODUCTIVE HISTOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF RANGIA CUNEATA, AND A COMPARATIVE MORPHOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE FOOT AND SHELL OF RANGIA CUNEATA AND POLYMESODA CAROLINIANA by Brandon David Drescher August 2017 Approved by: ________________________________________________ Dr. Jennifer M. Walker, Committee Chair Associate Professor, Biological Sciences ________________________________________________ Dr. Rebecca Fillmore, Committee Member Assistant Professor, Biological Sciences ________________________________________________ Dr. Jake Schaefer, Committee Member Professor, Biological Sciences ________________________________________________ Dr. Brian Kreiser, Committee Member Professor, Biological Sciences ________________________________________________ Dr. Alan Shiller, Committee Member Professor, Ocean Science and Technology ________________________________________________ Dr. Karen S. Coats Dean of the Graduate School COPYRIGHT BY Brandon David Drescher 2017 Published by the Graduate School ABSTRACT AN ECOLOGICAL EXAMINATION OF JOHNSON BAYOU (PASS CHRISTIAN, MS) WITH A REPRODUCTIVE HISTOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF RANGIA CUNEATA, AND A COMPARATIVE MORPHOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE FOOT AND SHELL OF RANGIA CUNEATA AND POLYMESODA CAROLINIANA by Brandon David Drescher August 2017 Johnson Bayou is an estuarine system located in Pass Christian, MS. Research involved a biotic and abiotic examination of Johnson Bayou, resulting in the identification of numerous species of plants and animals, including Rangia cuneata (Mactridae) and Polymesoda caroliniana (Cyrenidae), sympatric species of infaunal bivalves. Environmental factors (e.g., water temperature, salinity) were measured over three years to describe the system from an abiotic standpoint, and used in a qualitative and quantitative reproductive histological study on R. cuneata. Results revealed differences in timing of gamete production and spawning between three subpopulations of this species. Sediment samples taken from the study areas had statistically different levels of organic matter and sediment particle sizes. A laboratory-based experiment was undertaken to examine the effect of three sediment types on the number and length of burrowing events between both species of clams. It was found that the number of burrowing events and the length of burrowing events differed significantly, and the difference in length of burrowing events in silt between species was significant. ii Infaunal bivalves are ecosystem engineers, capable of altering the morphology of sediment and water column via burrowing with their foot. However, little research has examined the foot morphology and ultrastructure of bivalves between sympatric species from different families. A comparative study using light and electron microscopy methods revealed that R. cuneata and P. caroliniana have the same general organization of foot tissue, with a thick internal musculature, subepithelial region, and ciliated, simple epithelium. However, the composition of glandular tissue comprising the subepithelium was different between species. While P. caroliniana produces only acidic mucopolysaccharides, R. cuneata produces both acidic and nonacidic mucopolysaccharides. Bivalve shells provide shelter and substrate for numerous organisms and as a source of calcium and carbonate ions. Shell of either species has not been examined from a system in MS. Using microscopy methods, R. cuneata produces four shell layers, while P. caroliniana produces three. Presence of iron and titanium were detected from the periostracum, silicon and strontium in the nacre, but not from the adductor muscle scar, and the elemental composition of the outer and middle layers was the same. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank the following undergraduates for their dedicated time and effort in learning new techniques and assisting in observations, data acquisition, and subsequent analyses: Cassy Porter, Christopher Griffin, Samantha Allen, Elizabeth Jacavone, and Rebecca Crosby. I would like to thank Nancy Brown-Peterson at the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory for her time in training me and assisting with histological techniques and image analysis. Additional people at GCRL I thank for their time include Jeremy Johnson and Binnaz Bailey, both of which were instrumental in teaching me techniques in lab-based aquaculture. I am grateful to Dr. Shelia Brown for her assistance in identifying various species of plants in Johnson Bayou, and to Darrin Cooper, manager of the machine shop in the Department of Polymer Sciences, for his assistance is cutting shells for morphological examination. My committee and advisor have been kind, patient, and supportive with their feedback during my time as a student. I formed the ideal doctoral committee. I must thank the members of the Environmental Protection Agency with whom I collaborated on various projects; in addition, they provided important materials with which I was able to complete some projects reported in this dissertation. A special thanks to Janeal McKee, Jensa Besse, and Robin Johnson for their support and guidance throughout my time at USM. Last, a final thanks to Dr. Francis Lucas who without her help, I would have never been able to continue my research as a graduate student. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. iv LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................................................. x LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ............................................................................................. xi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................... xv CHAPTER I – LITERATURE REVIEW OF RANGIA CUNEATA AND POLYMESODA CAROLINIANA WITH RESPECT TO ECOLOGY, AND FOOT AND SHELL ULTRASTRUCTURE ........................................................................................................ 1 Background ..................................................................................................................... 1 Historical and current background on Rangia cuneata ............................................... 1 Life history and sympatry ........................................................................................... 3 Sympatric species........................................................................................................ 7 Environmental impacts of Rangia cuneata ................................................................. 8 Burrowing and pedal shape ....................................................................................... 11 Pedal Morphology and Ultrastructure of Clams ........................................................... 12 Background on bivalve pedal morphology and ultrastructure .................................. 12 Shell Morphology and Ultrastructure of Bivalves ........................................................ 16 Shell morphology and growth in bivalves ................................................................ 16 Elemental analysis .................................................................................................... 24 v References ..................................................................................................................... 26 CHAPTER II – A STUDY ON THE ECOLOGY OF JOHNSON BAYOU, REPRODUCTIVE HISTOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF RANGIA CUNEATA, AND OBSERVATIONS ON BURROWING BEHAVIOR OF RANGIA CUNEATA AND POLYMESODA CAROLINIANA ACROSS THREE SEDIMENT TYPES ..................... 40 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 40 Habitat