Swimming behavior of juvenile giant scallop, <i>Placopecten magellanicus</i>, in relation to size and temperature

Abstract

Juvenile scallops (shell height 4–35 mm) were stimulated to swim in an aquarium using a whelk, and their swimming was recorded and analyzed using a videocassette recorder. Scallops ascended in the water column in straight, spiral, or twisting patterns, and the majority never swam horizontally. Two types of swimming were observed. Stable swimming, with a consistent body angle (the angle that the scallop makes with the horizon), was recorded over the size range of scallops examined. In stepwise swimming, the body angle alternated between steep (98 ± 13 (SD)) and more horizontal angles (51 ± 9°). Stepwise swimming was observed among the smaller (mean ± SD = 8 ± 3 mm) scallops. Maximum and mean velocities were positively correlated with both shell height and temperature. Clap rate (C r ) increased with increasing temperature (C r = 0.29T (°C) + 1.3). Body angle expressed a significant relationship with shell height. Below 10 mm shell height the mean angle was 82°; between 30 and 35 mm the mean angle was 38°.