Meeting Abstract

P3.54  Sunday, Jan. 6  Measurements of various water parameters to explain shell characteristics of barnacles MCCLARY, JR., M.*; GARAH, M.; ELIA, S.; Fairleigh Dickinson University; Paramus High School; Passaic County Technical Institute mcclary@fdu.edu

Previous observations have shown that shells of barnacles, Balanus improvisus, from the Hackensack River of New Jersey were brittle compared to shells of B. improvisus from Laurence Harbor in Old Bridge, New Jersey. Although previous studies showed that barnacle shells from the Hackensack River contained more calcium than barnacle shells from Laurence Harbor, the calcium concentrations in barnacle shells from the Hackensack River did not increase with barnacle size like they did in the shells of barnacles from Laurence Harbor. To determine if this was due to a higher salinity, water samples were collected from the Hackensack River and from Laurence Harbor to measure and compare salinity, calcium concentration, general hardness, carbonate hardness, nitrite, nitrate, pH, and phosphate concentration. Water from Laurence Harbor contained a higher level of calcium than the water from the Hackensack River. Phosphate concentrations in all water samples were higher than 0.1 mg/l which may explain why the calcium concentrations were lower than they should be. General hardness, carbonate hardness, nitrite, nitrate and pH were similar in all water samples. Future studies may try to determine the calcium uptake rates of barnacles of various sizes and ages to determine if this is the reason for the lack of calcium increase with increase in barnacle size that was found in barnacles from the Hackensack River.