C. Roegner et al., TRANSPORT OF RECENTLY SETTLED SOFT-SHELL CLAMS (MYA ARENARIA L.) IN LABORATORY FLUME FLOW, Journal of experimental marine biology and ecology, 187(1), 1995, pp. 13-26
A laboratory flume was used to examine the retention of juvenile soft-
shell clams (2 wk postsettlement) in sediment when exposed to flow. Cl
ams resisted erosion until the initiation of sediment transport, after
which they were rapidly advected from sections of test substrate. Com
parisons between living and killed clams indicated that burrowing beha
vior was instrumental for maintaining position in flow I the critical
erosion velocity for sediment movement. The ability of low density, sh
allow-burrowing juvenile bivalves to avoid transport as bedload or res
uspended particles is probably minimal during erosional periods, despi
te that fact that the position of larger, deeper living individuals ma
y be unaffected, In energetic regimes, infaunal recruitment patterns c
an be dominated by hydrodynamic forces affecting juveniles.