Competition for food in the larvae of two marine molluscs, Crepidula fornicata and Crassostrea gigas

The degree to which larvae of the invasive American slipper limpet (Crepidula fornicata) and the Japanese oyster (Crassostrea gigas) may compete for food was examined during 2003 in the laboratory. Larval microalgae uptake, growth and mortality were compared for larvae fed each of six species of unicellular algae, ranging in length from 2 to 10 mu m. Tested diets included the two flagellates Tetraselmis chui (Prasinophyceae) and Isochrysis affinis galbana (T-ISO, Haptophyceae), one member of the Chlorophyceae (Nannochloris atomus), and three diatom species (Chaetoceros calcitrans forma pumilum, Chaetoceros gracilis, Skeletonema marino). We found that the limpet larvae ingested phytoplankton over a wider range of cell sizes and ate at higher rates on each diet than did the oyster larvae. For example, oyster larvae consumed 2216 cells h(-1) of N. atomus, while limpet larvae consumed the same phytoplankton cells at approximately twice that rate, 5159 cells h(-1), on the same diet. Larvae of both species grew more quickly on a mixture of flagellates than on any of the diatom alone (12 versus 7 mu m d(-1) for oyster larvae and 41 versus 28 mu m d(-1) for limpet larvae). Our results suggest that in the Bay of Mount Saint-Michel (France, Western Channel), where larvae of both species co-exist in the summer, intensive grazing by limpet larvae can potentially deplete phytoplankton concentrations to cause competition with oyster larvae, particularly for smaller sized phytoplankton species.