Abstract
Annual cycles were found to be reflected in growth increment sequences in the innermost shell layer of Mytilus edulis L., providing a method of age determination. Distinct lines on acetate peels of polished and etched longitudinal shell sections were formed at a rate of one per year during late spring. Scanning electron microscopic examination of shell sections suggested that annual patterns on peels and polished sections are reflexions of a periodic ultrastructural crystalline pattern: thick aragonite crystalline laminae abruptly decreasing in size to form a zone of fine laminae which gradually increase in thickness towards the inner shell surface. It is suggested that careful examination of the inner shell layer of other Recent and fossil molluscs may reveal structural patterns useful in obtaining age and growth rate estimates.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 723-731 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom |
| Volume | 56 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Aug 1976 |
| Externally published | Yes |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Aquatic Science