Читать книгу Marine Mussels - Elizabeth Gosling - Страница 50

Just as humans greatly appreciate the delicate flavour of bivalves, so also do a whole range of other organisms from groups as diverse as fish, birds, mammals, crustaceans, echinoderms, flatworms and even other molluscs. Bivalves are usually preyed upon by several of these groups, which operate at specific times of the year, and which generally focus on the smaller size classes. Predators are probably the single most important source of natural mortality in bivalve molluscs and have the potential to influence population size structure, overall abundance and local distribution patterns.

In this section, the main predators of mussels will be dealt with, along with major pests, fouling organisms and competitors. Most of the following information comes from studies in intertidal and shallow water environments.