ABSTRACT
When zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) and quagga mussels (Dreissena rostriformis bugensis) rst arrived in North America in the 1980s, little was known about physiological mechanisms and environmental conditions that controlled reproductive behaviors of these bivalves. Most control
Donna R. Kashian and Jeffrey L. Ram
CONTENTS
Abstract .................................................................................................................................................................................461 Introduction ...........................................................................................................................................................................461 Chemical Regulation of Reproductive Behavior ................................................................................................................. 462 Support of the Model ........................................................................................................................................................... 462
Role of Serotonin ............................................................................................................................................................ 462 Role of Algal and Gamete-Associated Stimuli ............................................................................................................... 463 Sperm Attractants ........................................................................................................................................................... 465 Fertilization and Veliger Development ........................................................................................................................... 465 Seasonal Reproductive Cycle .......................................................................................................................................... 467
Conclusions .......................................................................................................................................................................... 467 Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................................................................ 468 References ............................................................................................................................................................................ 468
methods for bivalves under development in the 1980s were based on non-specic toxic chemicals (e.g., chlorination) directed at controlling adults. Since some organisms were known to have species-specic chemical signals that regulate the coordination of reproductive behaviors between males and females, Ram and Nichols (1993) proposed that increased knowledge of such signals in the zebra mussel might lead to the development of species-specic control methods that avoided the problems of non-specic toxic chemicals. An initial study of effects of serotonin demonstrated this neurochemical could stimulate spawning in male zebra mussels (Ram and Nichols 1990).
