Abstract
IN November 1920, good numbers of the mollusc Syndosmya alba round about 15 mm. in length and sexually mature were taken by dredging in the Black Deep near the Edinburgh Lightship. The occurrence of this bivalve, practically on the spot where munitions had recently been dumped, is a matter of much interest, so that observations on the life-history of this form are worth recording. It was suspected at the time that the specimens taken in 1920 were at least six months old, as estimated from material obtained in the sea experimentally, but recently the present writer had the good fortune to obtain a good fall of young ones of this species in a cage which had been in the sea in the River Blackwater in the Thames Estuary area about eight months, i.e. from October 22, 1923, to June 7, 1924. In this case the valves of Pecten maximus and Ostrea edulis were strung on tarred rope in pairs, so that pairs of the shells were in the same relative position as in life. In the cavity of these shells a certain amount of mud accumulated, and in this nidus young Syndosmya settled at some time later and grew to a size varying from 6.5 to 12.0 mm. in length. Individuals about 8.0 mm. in length were found to be approaching sexual maturity.
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ORTON, J. On Early Sexual Maturity in the Molluscs, Syndosmya alba and Cardium fasciatum. Nature 114, 244 (1924). https://doi.org/10.1038/114244a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/114244a0
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