Abstract
Within the northeastern waters of the United States, culture of both the eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) and the ribbed mussel (Geukensia demissa) provide significant opportunities for widespread ecological and financial impact (Schatte Olivier et al., 2020). Though generally a non-consumptive species, the demand for ribbed mussels has grown in recent years due to their use in a wide range of ecological engineering projects, such as bacterial remediation, bioextraction, ecosystem stabilization, living shoreline development, and coastal resiliency (Bilkovic et al., 2021; Galimany et al., 2014; Galimany et al., 2017). Ribbed mussels are currently spawned in aquaculture facilities, though there is room for improvement with the methods used. The purpose of this study was to build upon preliminary work to develop consistent protocols for captive spawning of ribbed mussels, and to further develop and advance table spawning methods for the eastern oyster. This was done over two months in summer 2024 at the New Jersey Aquaculture Innovation Center of Rutgers University by determining if spawning could be induced in ribbed mussels and eastern oysters through the addition of serotonin and hydrogen peroxide as synthetic triggers. Three replicate treatments of each species and trigger were carried out with the same temperature cycled control. Ribbed mussels did not spawn in response to the temperature cycling, immersion in a hydrogen peroxide bath, or serotonin injections. Eastern oysters did not respond with gamete release in the temperature cycled control group or the hydrogen peroxide exposed group, and seven males out of the eighteen total eastern osysters spawned in the serotonin injected group. Further research is still needed using methods of determining gametic index to investigate if serotonin injections can be used to induce spawning in ribbed mussels. Developing consistent and repeatable spawning techniques will allow shellfish aquaculture facilities to culture ribbed mussels more easily, allowing for a currently unmet demand to be reached. The opportunity for the production of ribbed mussels is valuable as it will contribute to living shoreline and environmental restoration efforts along the eastern coast of the United States.