A Note on the Reproductive Season of the Carolina Marsh Clam Polymesoda caroliniana (Bosc) in an Irregularly Flooded Mississippi Marsh

The gonadal development of Polymesoda caroliniana in an irregularly flooded, brackish marsh was followed for 13 months. Ripe individuals (condition prior to spawning) were found in May, July, August, and October, suggesting either an extended period of spawning or three discrete spawning periods. This pattern is different from another study of P. caroliniana in a more flooded habitat. The observed gonadal condition correlates with the presence of newly recruited clams in the marsh during most of the year, but failed to explain a pulse of juveniles found in February. The different reproductive pattern observed in this brackish marsh may be either a genetic or physiological adaptation to life in an unpredictably flooded marsh