Length- and weight-dependent clearance rates of juvenile mussels (Mytilus edulis) on various planktonic prey items

Table 3 Coefficients a and b in the relationship between clearance rate and shell length (R _C = aL ^b), and the coefficients c and d for the relationship between clearance rate and tissue dry weight (R _C = cW ^d) as reported in the current and other studies are given

a	b	Reference	Comment
0.0004	2.00	This study	1.5–25 mm, natural plankton communities
0.0002	2.19	Jones et al. (1992)	Mean
0.0004	2.09	Jones et al. (1992)	Max
0.0007	2.14	Kiørboe and Møhlenberg (1981)
0.0035/0.0039	1.72	Filgueira et al. (2008)	M. galloprovinciallis, natural plankton communities
0.0014	2.08	Riisgård et al. (2014)	Average values

c	d
0.74	0.67	This study (2012)	0.1–140 mg, natural plankton communities
1.84	0.34	Bayne and Widdows (1978)
2.65	0.38	Widdows (1978)
37.8	1.03	Riisgård et al. (1980)	Post-metamorphosis larvae, 0.07–10 mg
7.45	0.66	Møhlenberg and Riisgård (1979)
7.37	0.72	Riisgård and Møhlenberg (1979)
1.78	0.70	Jones et al. (1992)	Mean
3.16	0.72	Jones et al. (1992)	Max
1.66	0.57	Smaal et al. (1997)
5.80/5.02	0.60/0.50	Filgueira et al. (2008)	M. galloprovinciallis, natural plankton communities
6.90	0.68	Riisgård et al. (2014)	Average values

R _C is expressed as litres cleared of particles per hour, shell length in mm, and weight in grams. In the current study, with regard to the relationship between clearance rate and weight, only data from the year 2012 were used. In this year, tissue dry weights were established instead of total (tissue and shell) dry weights. Apart from the current study, most studies referred to in the table have been conducted on Mytilus edulis ranging in size from 10 to 80 mm using algal cultures thought to be 100 % effectively retained. The use of smaller mussels or the use of natural plankton communities instead of cultures is reported under ‘comments’ in the table. In the current study, temperature ranged between 12 and 21 °C. Temperature ranges in other studies were at a fixed temperature or within a range, but always between 9 and 18 °C except Smaal et al. (0.4–19.5 °C). See original studies for more details

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