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Soft Shell Clam Mya Arenaria, Patrick K. Baker, Roger L. Mann

VIMS Books and Book Chapters

Large populations of soft shell clams persist only in relatively shallow, sandy, mesohaline portions of the Chesapeake Bay. These areas are mostly in Maryland, but also occur in the Rappahannock River, Virginia. In some other portions of the Bay, especially polyhaline portions, low populations of soft shell clams persist subtidally. Restricted populations persist intertidally.

Soft shell clams grow rapidly in the Chesapeake Bay, reaching commercial size in two years or less. They reproduce twice per year, in spring and fall, but probably only fall spawnings are important in maintaining population levels. Major recruitment events do not occur in most years, …

Marine Resource Bulletin Vol. 10, No. 1, Virginia Sea Grant, Virginia Institute Of Marine Science

Virginia Marine Resource Bulletin

No abstract provided.

Modern And Holocene Formanifera In The Chesapeake Bay Region, Robert L. Ellison, Maynard M. Nichols

VIMS Books and Book Chapters

Estuaries are highly variable coastal ecosystems. Some of the variation is seasonal and some is longitudinal along the environmental gradient from the river to the sea. Foraminifera are tuned to the periodicity, and a progressive change in the composition and structure of foraminiferal faunas parallels the longitudinal ecocline, identified by the gradient in salinity.

In marshes and tributary estuaries where water is fresh, thecamoebinids comprise the microfauna. Three other marsh faunas are composed chiefly of the agglutinate species: Ammoastuta salsa, Miliammina fusca, Arenoparrella mexicana, Alllmobaculites crassus and species of Haplophragmoides and Trochammina. Their distribution is influenced by salinity and exposure. …