Crystallographic and geochemical responses of giant clams on turbid reefs

Mills, Kimberley, Sosdian, Sindia ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4599-5529, Muir, Duncan D., John, Eleanor H., Santodomingo, Nadia, Johnson, Kenneth, Buse, Ben and Waheed, Zarinah 2025. Crystallographic and geochemical responses of giant clams on turbid reefs. Scientific Reports 15 (1) , 7365. 10.1038/s41598-025-90614-y

PDF - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (2MB)

Abstract

Marine calcifying organisms on coral reefs face significant threats from various anthropogenic stressors. To better understand how these organisms will respond to a rapidly changing ocean, it is crucial to investigate their biomineralization across different reef environments. Despite their resilience and potential as conservation hotspots, turbid reefs-projected to expand throughout the 21st century-remain understudied, including a limited knowledge of biomineralization processes within these environments. Herein, for the first time, we assess the crystallographic and geochemical signatures of aragonite giant clam shells Tridacna squamosa from high and low turbid reefs in the Coral Triangle. Shell composition is strongly influenced by turbidity and biominerals formed in a high turbid reef show a more organized crystal orientation and significantly lower element-to-calcium ratios (magnesium/calcium, strontium/calcium). We hypothesize that these variations are driven by physiological changes related to the trophic flexibility of T. squamosa, utilizing both autotrophic and heterotrophic mechanisms. Observed differences may have implications for biomechanical and defense responses of shells, important in their ability to survive future change. [Abstract copyright: © 2025. The Author(s).]

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Earth and Environmental Sciences
Publisher:	Nature Research
Funders:	NERC, UKRI
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	19 March 2025
Date of Acceptance:	14 February 2025
Last Modified:	24 Mar 2025 18:26
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/176997

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item