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Mass mortality of ocean quahog, Arctica islandica, on hard substratum in Lonafjördur, north-eastern Iceland after a storm

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 March 2009

Gudrun G. Thórarindsóttir ,
Karl Gunnarsson  and
Erlendur Bogason
Gudrun G. Thórarindsóttir*
Affiliation:
Marine Research Institute, PO Box 1390, Skúlagata 4, 121 Reykjavík, Iceland
Karl Gunnarsson
Affiliation:
Marine Research Institute, PO Box 1390, Skúlagata 4, 121 Reykjavík, Iceland
Erlendur Bogason
Affiliation:
Sævör ehf, Huldugil 25, 603 Akureyri, Iceland
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Gudrun G. Thórarindsóttir, Marine Research Institute, PO Box 1390, Skúlagata 4, 121 Reykjavík, Iceland email: [email protected]
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Abstract

In April 2006 a heavy storm caused large quantities of ocean quahogs to be transported from their natural habitat, the soft bottom, where they live buried in the sediment, up onto a hard substratum at a lower depth. There, unable to burrow down again and escape, the clams were easy prey for predators. A year later, the diver revisited the site and observed empty shells and shell fragments, but no living clams.

Keywords

Arctica islandicaocean quahogmass mortalitystorm
Type
Research Article
Information
Marine Biodiversity Records , Volume 2 , January 2009 , e55
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2009

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References

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