Survival of the Angelwing Clam, Barnea manile...

Survival of the Angelwing Clam, Barnea manilensis at Different Salinity Levels

Author Name : Araneta, Bryan Yves G.

ABSTRACT

This study was able to establish Barnea manilensis as a euryhaline species with a salinity tolerance range of 5 ppt to 20 ppt. This salinity tolerance is commonly exhibited by bivalves living in estuarine environments. The optimum salinity for B. manilensis is 15 ppt. Beyond this, the clams maintained 100% survival at 20 ppt but is showing signs of stress such as low feeding activity, less movement and shrinking of the soft tissues. There is a significant drop in survival rates of the laboratory culture clams between 20 ppt and 25 ppt suggesting that 25 ppt is already lethal to this species. On the other hand, B. manilensis can tolerate low salinity levels from 15 ppt to 5 ppt. This can even extend up to 0 ppt but only to a short amount of time as clams die in about 2 to 3 days in a freshwater environment. The results of this study provided a hint of how these organisms survive in their natural environments.

Keywords: euryhaline, clam salinity tolerance, angelwing clam