Seasonal changes in glycogen contents in various tissues of the edible bivalves, pen shell Atrina lischkeana, ark shell Scapharca kagoshimensis, and manila clam Ruditapes philippinarum in west Japan

Abstract

The types of tissues accumulating glycogen and seasonal changes in glycogen content were investigated in the following shell species: pen shell Atrina lischkeana, ark shell Scapharca kagoshimensis, and Manila clam Ruditapes philippinarum. Comparison of the results showed that the adductor muscle or foot was the main glycogen reservoir and the levels varied seasonally. The adductor muscle in the pen shell showed higher glycogen content during spring and lower content during autumn. The ark shell, on the other hand, showed higher content during winter and spring and lower content during summer and autumn, while the Manila clam showed higher glycogen content during spring and summer and lower content during autumn and winter. These results revealed that the adductor muscle in pen shells and the foot in ark shells and Manila clams act as the main storage tissues for glycogen in the three species studied and that these tissues are suitable to analyze glycogen prevalence to estimate individual physiological condition.