Daniel Hering

Biological Scaling In Clam Shells

Introduction Isomorphs are organisms that do not change shape as they grow. This causes an organisms volume to be proportional to its cubed length and its surface area to its squared length. This holds any shape the organism can possibly have. However, the shape controls the proportionality constants (This came from Wikipedia). Bivalves are a class of mollusks that consist of laterally compacted bodies enclosed by a hingelike shell. This class includes primarily oysters, mussels, clams, and scallops. They are filter feeders that do not have a head or radula. Their gills are evolved into ctenidia, which are designed for filter feeding and breathing. When it comes to dealing with predation, bivalves either bury themselves into the sediment of the seabed, attach to a hard surface, such as a rock, or embed themselves into wood, clay, or stone where they then live in. Some bivalves, such as scallops, can swim (This came from Wikipedia). As bivalves grow, their shell maintains a constant shape. Their length and width are proportional with each other, so that the shells shape stays the same as they grow bigger, which is essential for bivalves, such as scallops, to maintain locomotion when they are swimming, although bivalves may benefit from a change in shape of their shell where it can make it more difficult for predators to pry them open. If a clam shell grows isometrically, the slope of the graph (relationship between length and width) of this experiment will equal 1, showing that length and width increase proportionately. Since isometry is the proportionate scaling of an organisms size, allometry is any change that differs from isometry. For example, the skeletons of mammals become more tough and massive as the body size increases. In a perfectly isometric organism, volume changes proportionately with mass, surface area changes with mass to the power of 2/3, and length changes with mass to the power of 1/3. That means that length must grow faster than mass in order for length to compensate for mass (This came from Wikipedia). The thickness of a bivalves shell should not increase proportionately with the shells length. As the shell grows bigger in an isometric bivalve, the thickness of the shell will increase faster than the length of the shell. If a bivalve is too thick for its size, it would make it harder to take maneuvers against predations, from being too weak to bury into the sediment of the seabed, to being to massive, and therefore too heavy, to attach to hard surfaces. It would also make it very difficult for scallops to swim due their massiveness. Then again, the advantage to the extra thickness is the extra protection that the shell provides against predators. If the shells grow isometrically, the graph (relationship between length and mass) of the experiments results will equal 3 because length increases with mass to the power of 1/3 in isometric organisms. However, the slope of the graph should be at 1/3, indicating that length is increasing to the point of compensating for mass.

Methods Materials Six clam shells (each shell is significantly larger than previous one) Calipers Electronic balance

Procedure Step 1: Place the first clam shell snug into the brackets of the calipers to measure the length of clam shell (Refer to picture below Procedure). Step 2: Take the clam shell out of the brackets and record the measurement of the scale the brackets are positioned at. Step 3: Repeat (Steps 1-2), but measure the width instead of the length (Refer to picture below Procedure). Step 4: Place the same clam shell on the electronic balance. Record the mass measurement. Step 5: Repeat (Steps 1-4) for the remaining claim shells. | Width| | |

------------------------------Length

Results

Shell # 1 2 3 4 5 6

Length Width (mm) (mm) Mass (g) 13.98 12.13 0.29 19.35 17.01 0.72 27.53 19.15 1.98 36.13 30.96 4.19 49.98 41.99 9.96 55.74 46.87 16.84

Relationship Between Length and Width of Clam Shells

50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 0 y = 0.8464x - 0.5774 Shell 6 Shell 5

Width (mm)

Shell 4 Series1 Shell 2 Shell 1 10 20 Shell 3 Linear (Series1)

30

40

50

60

Length (mm)

Relationship Between Length and Mass of Clam Shells

1.4 1.2 1 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 -0.2 0 -0.4 -0.6 -0.8 Shell 6 Shell 5 Shell 4 Shell 3 0.5 Shell 2 1 Shell 1 1.5 2 y = 2.8692x - 3.8334 Series1 Linear (Series1)

LOG Mass (g)

LOG Length (mm)

Discussion My hypothesis of clam shells being isometrical in shape was not supported because according to the results of the experiment, the clam shell length increases slightly faster than the width, as the slope of the graph describing the relationship between length and width is less than 1, so I learned that the clam shells were not isometric, but they are very close to exhibiting isometry, according to the graph describing the relationship between length and mass, as the slope of that graph is just below 3. Of course, that discredited my hypothesis that the shells lengths would increase faster than their mass. I also learned that an organism is looked at as either isometric or allometric, not both (a clam cannot be isometric in length and width and also allometric in length and mass). I found it surprising how much more the mass of the clam shells increased compared to their length. This indicated that the shells lengths was not compensating with their mass. Clam shells exhibit allometry, but they are also very close to exhibiting isometry in order to almost maintain the same shape is it grows. This also means that the shell mass still increases much faster than the length, but this is so that the shell becomes thicker, providing more protection against predators. The vast increase in mass as a bivalve grows may not affect a bivalves ability to burrow in the seabed to hide from predators, to cling on hard surfaces, or embed themselves in wood, clay or stone. However, these hypotheses bring up the question if scallops, along with other bivalves that are able to swim, are any different than clams when it comes to biological scaling. Does the mass increase of their shells affect their ability to swim? The same experiment should be repeated on scallop shells, considering they are quintessential to swimming bivlaves.