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2022 MAPAIS TECHNICAL REPORT: Revisiting Rapana venosa in Hampton Roads as TBT abates
Mann, Roger
Mann, Roger
Abstract
In the more than a decade since the Rapana whelk bounty program ended sedimentation has continued in Hampton Roads. Recently Dr. Michael Unger of VIMS was approached to examine the current distribution and concentration of TBT in marine waters and sediments in the Hampton Roads region. The targeted regions for sampling broadly overlap with regions for which we also have comprehensive collection demographics for Rapana whelks for the 1998-2009 period, including imposex records for a subsample of the total collection. The expectation is that TBT levels will have abated. On the other hand lowered TBT suggest lower imposex and increased reproductive activity of local Rapana whelk populations. With this as history the overall objective of the MAPAIS supported effort was to revisit Rapana abundance, demographics and imposex status in the regions of the most recent TBT assay. This effort evaluated three foci: (i) the effectiveness of the decade long, intensive bounty program in the 1998-2009 period by simply asking is there a substantial remnant population of Rapana whelks in regions of former thriving initial invaders?; (ii) assuming Rapana are still present what is the incidence of imposex in collected material?; and (iii) if imposex is declining then what is the threat of an ongoing expansion of the local Rapana population?
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2022-04-27
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Virginia Institute of Marine Science
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rapana_report_2022.pdf
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Natural Resources