APPLICATION OF A DYNAMIC ENERGY BUDGET MODEL TO MYTILUS-EDULIS (L)

Filtering, ingestion, assimilation respiration, growth and reproduction of the blue mussel Mytilus edulis were successfully described in terms of a dynamic energy budget (DEB) model, which previously had been applied successfully to a variety of other species. The relation between oxygen consumption rate and ingestion rate could be derived from elementary model assumptions. Parameters of the DEB model, estimated for laboratory situations, were applied to field data. The varying growth rates in the field could be described by taking account of changes in food density and quality, and temperature, on the basis of the Arrhenius relation. A methodology is given to reconstruct ambient food densities from observed growth curves. This can be used to assess the nutritive value of measured substances such as POM or chlorophyll. The concept Scope For Growth is discussed and interpreted in terms of the DEB model. The energy conductance is found to be 0.36 mm.d-1 at 20-degrees-C, which is close to the mean of many species: 0.43 mm.d-1.