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Mussel Building

In a WHOI biology lab, graduate student Diane Poehls Adams is breeding blue mussels, Mytilus edulis, from larvae to mature adults. These mussels experience different genetic selection pressures—leading them to express different genes and traits—depending on whether they are in the ocean or an estuary. This selection could serve to reduce gene flow between the two habitat types and reduce the population size. Poehls Adams is culturing mussels in the lab, studying their genetic makeup, and transferring them into the ocean to see which are more successful indifferent marine environments. Understanding the connectivity between bottom-dwelling (or “benthic”) marine populations is necessary to properly manage our marine resources. (Photo by Tom Kleindinst, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)