''Argopecten irradians'', formerly classified as ''Aequipecten irradians'', common names Atlantic bay scallop or bay scallop, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of scallop in the family

Pectinidae Scallop () is a common name that encompasses various species of marine bivalve mollusks in the taxonomic family Pectinidae, the scallops. However, the common name "scallop" is also sometimes applied to species in other closely related families ...

. An edible saltwater clam, it is native to the northwest Atlantic from

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mont ...

to the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...

Biology

Development

At the northern extreme of its range in Massachusetts

germ Germ or germs may refer to: Science * Germ (microorganism), an informal word for a pathogen * Germ cell, cell that gives rise to the gametes of an organism that reproduces sexually * Germ layer, a primary layer of cells that forms during embryo ...

and gonial cells complete

development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development hell, when a project is stuck in development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting *Development (music), the process thematic material is reshaped * Photograph ...

in winter and early spring according to Sastry 1970. At the southern extreme the timeline is very different with Barber & Blake 1983 finding cytoplasmic growth stages occurred in July in

Tarpon Springs Tarpon Springs is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. The population was 23,484 at the 2010 census. Tarpon Springs has the highest percentage of Greek Americans of any city in the US. Downtown Tarpon Springs has long been a focal po ...

, Florida, almost at the highest water temperature of the year.

Immunity

' is a peptidoglycan recognition protein (PGRP). Its cDNA was cloned by Ni ''et al.'' 2007 and is the first bivalve PGRP to be cloned. ' is a

galectin Galectins are a class of proteins that bind specifically to β-galactoside sugars, such as ''N''-acetyllactosamine (Galβ1-3GlcNAc or Galβ1-4GlcNAc), which can be bound to proteins by either N-linked or O-linked glycosylation. They are also t ...

discovered by Song ''et al''. 2010, ' is a

toll-like receptor Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are a class of proteins that play a key role in the innate immune system. They are single-pass membrane-spanning receptors usually expressed on sentinel cells such as macrophages and dendritic cells, that recognize ...

(TLR) shared with other bivalves. It was first found ''in this scallop'' by Song ''et al.'' 2006. Song 2006 also found an inhibitor of κB (IκB). ' is the first big defensin cloned from this scallop. The gene is 531

nucleotide Nucleotides are organic molecules consisting of a nucleoside and a phosphate. They serve as monomeric units of the nucleic acid polymers – deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA), both of which are essential biomolecule ...

s and the polypeptide product is 122

amino acid Amino acids are organic compounds that contain both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups. Although hundreds of amino acids exist in nature, by far the most important are the alpha-amino acids, which comprise proteins. Only 22 alpha a ...

s. Recombinant ''AiBD'' is an

antimicrobial An antimicrobial is an agent that kills microorganisms or stops their growth. Antimicrobial medicines can be grouped according to the microorganisms they act primarily against. For example, antibiotics are used against bacteria, and antifungals ar ...

for

Gram-positive In bacteriology, gram-positive bacteria are bacteria that give a positive result in the Gram stain test, which is traditionally used to quickly classify bacteria into two broad categories according to their type of cell wall. Gram-positive bact ...

bacteria,

Gram-negative Gram-negative bacteria are bacteria that do not retain the crystal violet stain used in the Gram staining method of bacterial differentiation. They are characterized by their cell envelopes, which are composed of a thin peptidoglycan cell wa ...

bacteria, and

fungi A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from ...

. Manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) mRNA expression increases in the

gill A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are ...

and mantle in response to '' Vibrio anguillarum''.

Bay scallop fishery

This species of scallop used to support a large wild fishery on the East Coast of the United States, but since the 1950s it has decreased greatly. This is apparently the result of several negative influences, one of which is a reduction in

sea grass Seagrasses are the only flowering plants which grow in marine (ocean), marine environments. There are about 60 species of fully marine seagrasses which belong to four Family (biology), families (Posidoniaceae, Zosteraceae, Hydrocharitaceae an ...

es (to which bay scallop spat attach) due to increased coastal development and concomitant nutrient runoff. By contrast, the Atlantic sea scallop (''

Placopecten magellanicus ''Placopecten magellanicus'', previously listed as ''Pecten tenuicostatus'' and as ''Pecten grandis'' and once referred to as the "giant scallop", common names Atlantic deep-sea scallop, deep sea scallop, North Atlantic sea scallop, American se ...

'') is at historically high levels of abundance because the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2006 put a limit on catch numbers and lead to a recovery from overfishing. Scallop aquaculture is currently being practiced in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. They were introduced into China in the 1980s and are the basis of a vibrant aquaculture industry in that country and attempted elsewhere.

Subspecies

This species has five different subspecies: * ''A. i. amplicostatus'' (Dall, 1898) * ''A. i. concentricus'' (Say, 1822) * ''A. i. irradians'' (Lamarck, 1819) * ''A. i. sablensis'' (Clarke, 1965) - a fossil subspecies * ''A. i. taylorae'' Petuch, 1987 - the southern bay scallop

References

* https://www.mindat.org/taxon-2285856.html irradians Bivalves described in 1819 Taxa named by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck Molluscs of the Atlantic Ocean {{Pectinidae-stub