Sulfide Tolerance of the Brakish Water Bivalve, Corbicula japonica Prime

Abstract

Sulfide tolerance in the bivalve Corbicula japonica was determined based on laboratory experiments using individuals collected from Lake Shinji, an estuarine lagoon in Japan. The median tolerance time (LT₅₀) of individuals immersed in a 50 mg/l sulfide solution at 18°C was 23 days, while the LT₅₀in 1.0mg/l sulfide solution at 28°C was 21 days. At any given water temperature, the tolerance time decreased as sulfide concentration increased. The sulfide tolerance seemed similar between juvenile and adult C. japonica. C. japonica has a much higher sulfide tolerance than other macrobenthos that was reported at sulfide tolerance, which may reflect the adaptation of C. japonicato brackish environments where salinity stratification commonly causes anoxia and sulfide formation at the bottom.