Behavior and taxis of young and adult Limnoperna fortunei

Abstract

Young and adult specimens of Limnoperna fortunei exhibit crawling, climbing, and aggregating behavior, and they are able to resecrete byssal threads when they become detached from the substratum or from other mussels. Smaller mussels have greater motility and produce more byssal threads than the larger ones. Negative phototaxis, positive thigmotaxis, and negative geotaxis are involved in these behaviors, which differ in intensity between small and large mussels. These behaviors likely represent adaptive responses enhancing mussel survival.