How an Invasive Asiatic Clam Species Affects the Morphology of Sternotherus odoratus

Title

How an Invasive Asiatic Clam Species Affects the Morphology of Sternotherus odoratus

Date

2-13-2023

Faculty Mentor

Grover Brown, Biology

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Submission Type

Paper

Location

2:45-2:55pm | Houston Cole Library, 11th Floor

Description

Food availability is an important factor in growth, maintenance and reproduction of any organism in an environment. Some turtles are able to capitalize on hard-shelled prey items through modification and hypertrophy of the skull. One such species is the eastern musk turtle (Sternotherus odoratus). We were interested in the morphological differences between two populations of musk turtles along the Cane Creek waterway in Anniston, Alabama. One site was a small impoundment on the creek itself, another site was Finks Pond, a large pond alongside the creek. The stream site had abundant mollusk prey (snails and clams) whereas the pond lacked these hard-shelled prey items. We were primarily interested in the cranial morphology between the two populations. We captured a total of 37 Sternotherus odoratus across the two sites, collected morphometrics and analyzed diet contents. While we were not able to directly assess changes in the head morphology between populations, we did find that females from the Cane Creek site were significantly larger than all other musk turtles, regardless of sex and location. Diets of these females were nearly exclusively composed of an invasive Asiatic clam (Corbicula fluminea), suggesting this prey item subsidized the diet, size and morphology of female turtles at the Cane Creek size. Future studies are important to understand these ecological implications (e.g., if the larger females are more fecund than females at lake sites with poorer food quality).

Keywords

student research, biology

Rights

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Disciplines

Biology

How an Invasive Asiatic Clam Species Affects the Morphology of Sternotherus odoratus
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