Widdows (1991) has reviewed the eff

Widdows (1991) has reviewed the effects of environmental factors, such as food availability, temperature, oxygen concentration, salinity and pollutants, on the processes of feeding, metabolism and growth of mussel larvae. The planktonic larval stage and the immediate post-settlement stage in mussel larvae are characterised by high mortality rates. Factors that reduce growth rate, and thereby extend larval duration in the water column, will significantly reduce the chances of survival of the larvae to the settlement stage. In the coastal waters of Kalpakkam (east coast of India), Rajagopal et al. (1998b) reported a maximum mussel larval
density of 39,500 larvae m)3 in May (Figure 3), which is comparable with densities reported from
elsewhere for other mussel species. Schram (1970) recorded a similar density (40,000 larvae m)3) for M. edulis from the Oslo fjord. Hopkins (1977) observed the lamellibranch larval densities in
Tampa Bay to range from 1200 to 15,500 larvae m)3, with an annual mean of 8000 larvae m)3.
Fish and Johnson (1937) reported peak abundance of more than 25,000 larvae m)3 in Bay of Fundy