Population ecology of the green mussel Perna viridis

(L.) on the intertidal rocky shore from south west

coast of India

S. Thippeswamy* and M. Mohan Joseph#

University of Agricultural Sciences Bangalore, Fisheries Resources and
Management Department College of Fisheries, Mangalore, 575002, India

* Environmental Sciences Department, Mangalore University,

Mangalaganothri, Mangalore – 574199.

#CMFRI, P.B. No. 1603, Tatapuram P. O., Cochin, 680214, India

Green Mussel Perna viridis (Linnaeus, 1758)

Common Name
Green mussel, Green lipped mussel, Philippine
green mussel, sea mussel, Asian green mussel

Phylum : Mollusca
Class: Bivalvia
Order: Mytiloida
Family: Mytilidae
 Synonyms

Chloromya viridis Dodge, 1952

Mytilus (Chloromya) smaragdinus jukes-Browne, 1905

Mytilus (Chloromya) viridis Lamy, 1936

Mytilus opalus Lamrck, 1819

Mytilus smaragdinus Chemnitiz, 1785

Mytilus viridis Linnaeus, 1758

Perma viridis Ahmed, 1974

The green mussel, Perna viridis (L.)

• Widely distributed
• Pollution studies
• Potential species for mariculture
• Sentinel organism
Perna viridis
Inhabit the rocky beaches
Secondary productivity
Commercial value
Euryhaline species
 DENSITY (NO. m-2)

M
O
N
T
H
FREQUENCY (%)

SHELL LENGTH (mm)

 MONTHLY MEAN GROWTH RATE (mm)

M
O
N
T
H
n/N

t/T
 SIZE RANGE (mm)

M
O
N
T
H
 Comparison of values of L and K

Species L (mm) K Source

Mytilus edulis 77.60 0.5611 Thiesen (1968)

71.71 0.3426 Thiesen (1968)
62.45 0.8103 Dare (1975)
77.50 0.0220 Thiesen (1973)
to to
283.90 0.1620
67.20 1.1378 Seed (1976)
M. galloprovencilis 85.91 0.6600 Ceccherelli and Rossi (1984)
Perna perna 153.00 0.0930 Machado (1974)
P. indica 110.00 0.0954 Kuriakose (1974)
P. viridis 110 0.1124 Chetterji et al (1984)
85 0.1014 Rivonkar et al (1993)
52.84 0.2025 Present study
 SPECIFIC PRODUCTION, C

LIFE SPAN (MONTH)

 Loge Nt

MONTH
 INSTANTANEOUS TOTAL MORTALITY (Z)

M O N T H
 NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS

LENGTH
SURVIVAL LEVEL

MAXIMAL LIFE SPAN

AGE
 SURVIVAL LEVEL

M O N T H
 Some of the biological attributes of r-selection of Perna viridis

Attributes r-selection
Environment Uncertain, changeable and/or unpredictable.
Population size Recolonization each year, variable in time,
non equilibrium
Life span Short, less than one year
Mortality Catastrophic, density-independent , non-
directed
Survivorship Type III (Deevey, 1947)

Intra and interspecific competition Variable

Leads to Productivity
Stage in succession Primary succession
Age structure Type I/II (Zaika, 1973)
Selection favors a) Early reproduction
b) Single reproductive period
c) Many small offspring
d) Rapid development
e) Small body size
f) High growth rate