Biological Invasions of Cold-Water Coastal Ecosystems - Aquatic ...

Chapt 9C7. Shelled Molluscs, page 9C7- 10
occurrence of Mya arenaria in Alaskan waters before the 1890s. No M. arenaria were found in
samples from shell middens from Sitka (1070-470 yr BP) (Foster, unpublished data) and S.
Hawkins Island (500-200 yr BP and 2150-1380 yr BP) (Yarborough, unpublished data), and
faunal lists from two other Prince William Sound sites (ca. 400-200 yr BP) (Yarborough,
unpublished data), and from Resurrection Bay and Aialik Bay (1700s –1800s AD) (Yarborough,
unpublished data). These negative findings are consistent with M. arenaria being an invasive
species that was introduced in the late 1880s. In addition, the Asian oyster Crassostrea gigas
was also widely distributed in protected bays of Prince William Sound and Katchemak Bay,
where it is cultured abundantly in nets suspended vertically in the water column. However, it is
sustained as an aquaculture species by importation of laboratory produced spat, and is not a selfsustaining
population, probably because water temperatures are too cold for gonad development
and spawning. The common clam Macoma balthica may be viewed as a cryptogenic species that
may be introduced from the north Atlantic; but because of its circumboreal distribution and
variation in shell morphology, it is difficult to reconstruct the history of this species’
biogeography.
References:
Baxter, R. 1987. Mollusks of Alaska. Shells and Sea Life. Bayside, California, 163pp.
Behrens, D.W. 1991. Pacific coast nudibranchs. Second edition. Monterey California. 207 pp.
Coan, E.V. and P.V. Scott. 1999. Personal Communication. (unpublished draft of guide to
Pacific coast bivalves.)
Feder, H.M. and G.E.M. Matheke. 1980. Distribution, abundance, community structure and
tropic structure of the infauna of the northeast Gulf of Alaska. Inst. Mar. Sci. Rept. R78-8, Univ.
of Alaska, Fairbanks. 209 pp.
Fisher, W.K. 1930. Asteroidea of the North Pacific and adjacent waters. Part 3. Forcipulata
(concluded). Smithsonian Institution. U. S. Nat. Mus. Bull 76. 245 pp.
Foster, N.R. 1981. A synopsis of the marine prosobranch and bivalve mollusks in Alaskan
waters. Univ. Alaska, Institute of Marine Science Technical Rept IMS 81-3, 479 p.
Foster, N. R. 1991. Intertidal Bivalves: A Guide to the Common Marine Bivalves of Alaska.
University of Alaska Press, Fairbanks, Alaska. 152 pp.
Harbo, R. M. 1997. Shells and Shellfish of the Pacific Northwest A field guide. Harbour
Publishing, Madiera Park, BC, Canada. 270 pp.
Kozloff, E. N. 1996. Marine Invertebrates of the Pacific Northwest. University of Washington
Press. 539 pp.
Strasser, M. 1999. Mya arenaria- an ancient invader of the North Sea Coast. Helgolander
Meeresuntersuchungen 52: 309-324.