TRANSPORT OF RECENTLY SETTLED SOFT-SHELL CLAMS (MYA ARENARIA L.) IN LABORATORY FLUME FLOW

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.