The crystalline style of Choromytilus meridionalis Krauss contains a bacteriolytic enzyme capable of lysing the majorlty of free-living bacteria in the adjacent water column. Estimates of the carbon-to-nitrogen ratio (3.7:l) of free-living bacteria, and of the filtration capabilities of the mussels. indicate that bacteria could meet the nitrogen requirements of the mussels. The bacteriolytic agent in the style is subject to considerable adaptive changes in activity, correlated with water temperature.
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Seiderer et al. (1984) studied this question.
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