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Sex-related differences in growth and morphology of blue mussels

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 September 2003

Suzanne C. Mills  and
Isabelle M. Côté
Suzanne C. Mills
Affiliation:
Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä, PO Box 35 YAC, FIN–40351, Jyväskylä, Finland, E-mail: [email protected] Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Conservation, School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK, E-mail: [email protected]
Isabelle M. Côté
Affiliation:
Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Conservation, School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK, E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

The morphology and growth pattern of male and female blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) from the north Norfolk coast, UK, were studied. In allometric terms, the external shell parameters of females grew faster relative to shell length than those of males. In absolute terms, females also grew more quickly than males for all external shell parameters and for most internal body parts. At a given age, females are therefore larger than males. Females had a higher shell to tissue weight ratio and a relatively heavier foot than males. A discriminant function incorporating age, weight and shell length, width, and height correctly sexed 81% of individuals in the sample from which it was derived. Both natural and sexual selection may be involved in the evolution of sexual dimorphism in blue mussels.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 83 , Issue 5 , October 2003 , pp. 1053 - 1057
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2003

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