Research Product

Oysters sampled in February, 1992, from a low salinity site (3 ppt) in Apalachicola Bay, Florida, showed digestive tubule atrophy when compared with oysters from a higher salinity site (18 ppt) 16 kilometers away. Experiments designed to induce tubule atrophy in the laboratory consisted of two starvation and two salinity stress tests. To quantify tubule condition for each oyster, inside to outside diameter tubule ratios were calculated from 20 tubules per animal using an ocular micrometer. Higher tubule ratios indicated greater tubule atrophy. The experiments showed poor nutrition, perhaps due to low salinity, may have played a significant role in the tubule atrophy of Apalachicola Bay oysters.