{"id":{"repo_id":"vt","oai_identifier":"oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/36396"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/vt/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/36396","repository":{"repo_id":"vt","name":"Virginia Tech","base_url":"https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Development of a suitable diet for endangered juvenile oyster mussels, Epioblasma capsaeformis (Bivalvia:Unionidae), reared in a captive environment","abstract":"Epioblasma capsaeformis, commonly named the oyster mussel, once occupied thousands of miles of stream reaches, but has now been reduced in range to small, isolated populations in a few river reaches. Due to this significant decline in population numbers, a study was conducted to develop a diet for propagating this endangered species under captive conditions. Oyster mussel juveniles were collected from several sites on the Clinch River and sacrificed for gut content and biochemical composition analyses in summer. Feces and pseudofeces from live river-collected juveniles were examined seasonally for algae, detritus, and bacteria to qualitatively determine diet of specimens. Two feeding trials also were conducted in this study to evaluate effect of diet (commercial and non-commercial diets), on growth and survival of oyster mussel juveniles. From examination of gut contents, fecal and pseudofecal samples, it was apparent that algae and a significant amount of detritus (~90%) composed wild juvenile diets. E. capsaeformis juveniles (1-3 y of age) could have fed on particles up to 20 µm in size and seemed they were mostly ingesting particles within the 1.5-12 µm size range. Protein content of sacrificed juveniles ranged from 313 to 884 mg/g and was highly variable. Glycogen content ranged from 49-171 mg/g. Caloric content of four juveniles ranged from 2,935.10 to 4,287.94 cal/g, providing a preliminary baseline range for future energetic studies on freshwater mussels. Growth was significantly higher in those juveniles fed the triple concentration algae-mix (62,076 cells/ml) than all other diets tested in trial 1. Results of both feeding trials indicated that survival of juvenile oyster mussels was enhanced when fed an algal diet supplemented by bioflocs.","abstract_html":"Epioblasma capsaeformis, commonly named the oyster mussel, once occupied thousands of miles of stream reaches, but has now been reduced in range to small, isolated populations in a few river reaches. Due to this significant decline in population numbers, a study was conducted to develop a diet for propagating this endangered species under captive conditions. Oyster mussel juveniles were collected from several sites on the Clinch River and sacrificed for gut content and biochemical composition analyses in summer. Feces and pseudofeces from live river-collected juveniles were examined seasonally for algae, detritus, and bacteria to qualitatively determine diet of specimens. Two feeding trials also were conducted in this study to evaluate effect of diet (commercial and non-commercial diets), on growth and survival of oyster mussel juveniles. From examination of gut contents, fecal and pseudofecal samples, it was apparent that algae and a significant amount of detritus (~90%) composed wild juvenile diets. E. capsaeformis juveniles (1-3 y of age) could have fed on particles up to 20 µm in size and seemed they were mostly ingesting particles within the 1.5-12 µm size range. Protein content of sacrificed juveniles ranged from 313 to 884 mg/g and was highly variable. Glycogen content ranged from 49-171 mg/g. Caloric content of four juveniles ranged from 2,935.10 to 4,287.94 cal/g, providing a preliminary baseline range for future energetic studies on freshwater mussels. Growth was significantly higher in those juveniles fed the triple concentration algae-mix (62,076 cells/ml) than all other diets tested in trial 1. Results of both feeding trials indicated that survival of juvenile oyster mussels was enhanced when fed an algal diet supplemented by bioflocs.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Vincie, Meghann Elizabeth"],"institution":"Virginia Tech","degree_name":"Master of Science","degree_level":"masters","degree_discipline":"Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences","degree_department":"Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":["Neves, Richard J.","Craig, Steven R."],"committee_members":["McLean, Ewen W.","Gatenby, Catherine M."],"year":2008,"date_issued":"2008-08-25","date_published":"2008-08-25","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:19:41Z","subjects":["Epioblasma capsaeformis","bioflocs","juvenile culture","biochemical composition","gut content","juvenile diets","Unionidae","freshwater mussels"],"languages":[],"rights":["In Copyright"],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["etd-12222008-102753"],"render_values":[{"text":"etd-12222008-102753","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10919/36396","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.committeechair","label":"Committee Chair","values":["Neves, Richard J.","Craig, Steven R."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["McLean, Ewen W.","Gatenby, Catherine M."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Vincie, Meghann Elizabeth"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2014-03-14T20:50:39Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-03-14T20:50:39Z","2009-01-27"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2008-08-25"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Virginia Tech"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Epioblasma capsaeformis","bioflocs","juvenile culture","biochemical composition","gut content","juvenile diets","Unionidae","freshwater mussels"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["In Copyright"]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["etd-12222008-102753"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/36396"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Epioblasma capsaeformis, commonly named the oyster mussel, once occupied thousands of miles of stream reaches, but has now been reduced in range to small, isolated populations in a few river reaches. Due to this significant decline in population numbers, a study was conducted to develop a diet for propagating this endangered species under captive conditions. Oyster mussel juveniles were collected from several sites on the Clinch River and sacrificed for gut content and biochemical composition analyses in summer. Feces and pseudofeces from live river-collected juveniles were examined seasonally for algae, detritus, and bacteria to qualitatively determine diet of specimens. Two feeding trials also were conducted in this study to evaluate effect of diet (commercial and non-commercial diets), on growth and survival of oyster mussel juveniles. From examination of gut contents, fecal and pseudofecal samples, it was apparent that algae and a significant amount of detritus (~90%) composed wild juvenile diets. E. capsaeformis juveniles (1-3 y of age) could have fed on particles up to 20 µm in size and seemed they were mostly ingesting particles within the 1.5-12 µm size range. Protein content of sacrificed juveniles ranged from 313 to 884 mg/g and was highly variable. Glycogen content ranged from 49-171 mg/g. Caloric content of four juveniles ranged from 2,935.10 to 4,287.94 cal/g, providing a preliminary baseline range for future energetic studies on freshwater mussels. Growth was significantly higher in those juveniles fed the triple concentration algae-mix (62,076 cells/ml) than all other diets tested in trial 1. Results of both feeding trials indicated that survival of juvenile oyster mussels was enhanced when fed an algal diet supplemented by bioflocs."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Development of a suitable diet for endangered juvenile oyster mussels, Epioblasma capsaeformis (Bivalvia:Unionidae), reared in a captive environment"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.committeechair":["Neves, Richard J.","Craig, Steven R."],"dc:contributor.committeemember":["McLean, Ewen W.","Gatenby, Catherine M."],"dc:contributor.department":["Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences"],"dc:creator":["Vincie, Meghann Elizabeth"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2014-03-14T20:50:39Z"],"dc:date.available":["2014-03-14T20:50:39Z","2009-01-27"],"dc:date.issued":["2008-08-25"],"dc:description.abstract":["Epioblasma capsaeformis, commonly named the oyster mussel, once occupied thousands of miles of stream reaches, but has now been reduced in range to small, isolated populations in a few river reaches. Due to this significant decline in population numbers, a study was conducted to develop a diet for propagating this endangered species under captive conditions. Oyster mussel juveniles were collected from several sites on the Clinch River and sacrificed for gut content and biochemical composition analyses in summer. Feces and pseudofeces from live river-collected juveniles were examined seasonally for algae, detritus, and bacteria to qualitatively determine diet of specimens. Two feeding trials also were conducted in this study to evaluate effect of diet (commercial and non-commercial diets), on growth and survival of oyster mussel juveniles. From examination of gut contents, fecal and pseudofecal samples, it was apparent that algae and a significant amount of detritus (~90%) composed wild juvenile diets. E. capsaeformis juveniles (1-3 y of age) could have fed on particles up to 20 µm in size and seemed they were mostly ingesting particles within the 1.5-12 µm size range. Protein content of sacrificed juveniles ranged from 313 to 884 mg/g and was highly variable. Glycogen content ranged from 49-171 mg/g. Caloric content of four juveniles ranged from 2,935.10 to 4,287.94 cal/g, providing a preliminary baseline range for future energetic studies on freshwater mussels. Growth was significantly higher in those juveniles fed the triple concentration algae-mix (62,076 cells/ml) than all other diets tested in trial 1. Results of both feeding trials indicated that survival of juvenile oyster mussels was enhanced when fed an algal diet supplemented by bioflocs."],"dc:description.degree":["Master of Science"],"dc:identifier.other":["etd-12222008-102753"],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/36396"],"dc:publisher":["Virginia Tech"],"dc:rights":["In Copyright"],"dc:rights.uri":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"dc:subject":["Epioblasma capsaeformis","bioflocs","juvenile culture","biochemical composition","gut content","juvenile diets","Unionidae","freshwater mussels"],"dc:title":["Development of a suitable diet for endangered juvenile oyster mussels, Epioblasma capsaeformis (Bivalvia:Unionidae), reared in a captive environment"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences"],"thesis:degree_level":["masters"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science"],"thesis:institution_name":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:19:41Z"}