Knauss legislative fellowships in Congress help build careers — and they're fun and educational. See our video and fact sheet for details.
R/IS-15
Assessing the potential for natural predators to control the spread of the Suminoe oyster, Crassostrea ariakensis
Principal Investigator:
Roger I.E. NewellStart/End Year:
2003 - 2007Institution:
Horn Point Laboratory, University of Maryland Center for Environmental ScienceCo-Principal Investigator:
Victor S. Kennedy, Horn Point Laboratory, University of Maryland Center for Environmental ScienceTopic(s):
- Oysters
Description:
We will quantify mortality rates of different sized C. ariakensis when exposed to the dominant predators in the mesohaline region of estuaries in the mid-Atlantic region. In concurrent studies we will measure the mortality of similarly sized eastern oyster C. virginica exposed to the same predators. By statistically comparing rates of mortality between the two species exposed to the same predators under identical conditions we will ascertain if natural predators can control feral populations of C ariakensis to the same degree as they control eastern oyster populations. We will use these data to inform managers charged with evaluating the possible consequences of the proposed introduction of a non-native oyster.
Funding Start Year
2003
Funding End Year
2007
Related Publications:
Kennedy, VS; Shaw, KS; Newell, RIE. 2009. Discriminatory predation by three invertebrates on eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica) compared with non-native Suminoe oysters (C-ariakensis). Invertebrate Biology128(1):16 -25. doi:10.1111/j.1744-7410.2008.00151.x. UM-SG-RS-2009-05.
Newell, RIE; Kennedy, VS; Shaw, KS. 2007. Comparative vulnerability to predators, and induced defense responses, of eastern oysters Crassostrea virginica and non-native Crassostrea ariakensis oysters in Chesapeake Bay. Marine Biology152(2):449 -460. doi:10.1007/s00227-007-0706-0. UM-SG-RS-2007-09.
Program Announcements
News and Blogs
Featured Fellow
Nina Santos
Nina Santos is a Ph.D. student at the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. For her dissertation, she is focused on small shrimp-like crustaceans called mysids – an understudied yet important part of many estuarine and coastal food webs.
Featured Research Project
Developing a habitat model for mysids, an important link in Chesapeake Bay food webs
Mysids are important mesozooplankton prey for many species of fish in Chesapeake Bay and are an important link in transferring energy from lower to upper trophic levels. Mysids also serve as biological vectors for benthic-pelagic coupling due to their diel vertical migration and omnivorous prey-switching behavior, which makes mysids important regulators of food web architecture. Despite their central role in coastal food webs, surprisingly little is known about mysid ecology and dynamics in Chesapeake Bay.
