Ocean temperature oscillations enable reappearance of blue mussels Mytilus edulis in Svalbard after a 1000 year absence

We report the first observations of settled blue mussels Mytilus edulis L. in the high Arctic archipelago of Svalbard for the first time since the Viking Age. A scattered population was discovered at a single site at the mouth of Isfjorden in August 2004. Our data indicate that most mussels settled...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine Ecology Progress Series
Main Authors: Berge, Jørgen, Johnsen, Geir, Nilsen, Frank, Gulliksen, Bjørn, Slagstad, Dag
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Inter-Research 2005
Subjects:
blue mussels
blåskjell
temperature
temperatur
Arctic
Arktis
VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Zoology and botany: 480::Marine biology: 497
Svalbard
Arctic Archipelago
Arktis*
Isfjord*
Isfjorden
North Atlantic
Spitsbergen
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/11250/108780
https://doi.org/10.3354/meps303167
Description
Summary:We report the first observations of settled blue mussels Mytilus edulis L. in the high Arctic archipelago of Svalbard for the first time since the Viking Age. A scattered population was discovered at a single site at the mouth of Isfjorden in August 2004. Our data indicate that most mussels settled there as spat in 2002, and that larvae were transported by the West Spitsbergen Current northwards from the Norwegian coast to Svalbard the same year. This extension of the blue mussels’ distribution range was made possible by the unusually high northward mass transport of warm Atlantic water resulting in elevated sea-surface temperatures in the North Atlantic and along the west coast of Svalbard.

Similar Items