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Marine Ecology Progress Series

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MEPS 437:147-164 (2011)  -  DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps09268

The exhalant jet of mussels Mytilus edulis

Hans Ulrik Riisgård1,*, Bo Hoffmann Jørgensen2, Kim Lundgreen1, Francesca Storti2, Jens Honore Walther2,3, Knud Erik Meyer2, Poul S. Larsen2

1Marine Biological Research Centre, University of Southern Denmark, Hindsholmvej 11, 5300 Kerteminde, Denmark
2DTU Mechanical Engineering, Fluid Mechanics, Technical University of Denmark, Building 403, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
3Chair of Computational Science, ETH Zurich, 8092 Switzerland

ABSTRACT: The exhalant jet flow of mussels in conjunction with currents and/or other mussels may strongly influence the mussels’ grazing impact. Literature values of mussel exhalant jet velocity vary considerably and the detailed fluid mechanics of the near-mussel flow generated by the exhalant jet has hitherto been uncertain. Computational modelling of this phenomenon depends on knowledge of the velocity distribution near the exhalant siphon aperture of mussels to provide appropriate boundary conditions for numerical flow models. To be useful such information should be available for a range of mussel shell lengths. Here, we present results of a detailed study of fully open mussels Mytilus edulis in terms of filtration rate, exhalant siphon aperture area, jet velocity, gill area and body dry weight, all as a function of shell length (mean ± SD) over the range 16.0 ± 0.4 to 82.6 ± 2.9 mm, with the corresponding scaling laws also presented. The exhalant jet velocity was determined by 3 methods: (1) measured clearance rate divided by exhalant aperture area, (2) manual particle tracking velocimetry (PTV) using video-microscope recordings, and (3) particle image velocimetry (PIV). The latter provides detailed 2-component velocity distributions near the exhalant siphon in 5 planes parallel to the axis of the jet and the major axis of the oval aperture, and hence estimates of momentum and kinetic energy flows in addition to mean velocity. Data obtained on particles inside the exhalant jet of filtered water was verified by the use of titanium dioxide seeding particles which were de-agglomerated by ultrasound to a size range of 0.7 to 2 µm prior to addition, to avoid retention by the gill filter of the mussels. We found that exhalant jet velocity was essentially constant at ~8 cm s−1, and independent of shell length. Based on geometric similarity and scaling of mussel pump-system characteristics we found that these characteristics coincide approximately for all sizes when expressed as pressure head versus volume flow divided by shell length squared.


KEY WORDS: Filtration rate · Exhalant siphon area · Particle image velocimetry · Particle tracking velocimetry · Exhalant jet velocity · Velocity field · Allometric equation · Scaling law


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Cite this article as: Riisgård HU, Hoffmann Jørgensen B, Lundgreen K, Storti F, Walther JH, Meyer KE, Larsen PS (2011) The exhalant jet of mussels Mytilus edulis. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 437:147-164. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps09268

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