The Eastern Oyster (Crassostrea virginica) is a commercially important aquaculture species and food resource along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the USA. In addition to its economic value, oyster aquaculture provides ecological value such as water quality improvement. Oyster filtration is highly variable as filtration behavior is influenced by environmental conditions, oyster size, and oyster energetic demands. However, average rates generated in laboratory experiments are often used to estimate the ecological impact of oyster filtration, and there is a need for field-based, farm-specific estimates of filtration that account for this variation. In this study, field experiments were conducted between September 2020 and September 2021 to estimate seasonal oyster filtration physiology at oyster farms in three different bays in the Mid-Atlantic (Barnegat Bay and Delaware Bay in New Jersey and Rehoboth Bay in Delaware). The physiological activity of oysters at each farm varied such that oysters at Barnegat Bay were the most active and oysters at Rehoboth Bay were the least active. Seasonal physiological trends were observed such that filtration behavior generally increased in warmer months. An increase in physiological activity across all farms was associated with an increase in salinity and temperature, but physiological activity at each farm was associated with a different suite of environmental variables including total particulate matter and the organic content of seston. This study provides a robust dataset which can be incorporated into models estimating ecological filtration rates in the Mid-Atlantic and adds to the growing body of evidence supporting bivalve aquaculture as a nutrient reduction strategy.

东部牡蛎（Crassostrea virginica）是美国大西洋和墨西哥湾沿岸具有重要商业价值的水产养殖物种和食物资源。除了经济价值外，牡蛎养殖还具有改善水质等生态价值。牡蛎过滤变化很大，因为过滤行为受到环境条件、牡蛎大小和牡蛎能量需求的影响。然而，实验室实验中产生的平均速率通常用于估计牡蛎过滤的生态影响，并且需要基于现场、特定农场的过滤估计来解释这种变化。在这项研究中，在 2020 年 9 月至 2021 年 9 月期间进行了现场实验，以估计大西洋中部三个不同海湾（新泽西州的巴尼加特湾和特拉华湾以及特拉华州的里霍博斯湾）牡蛎养殖场的季节性牡蛎过滤生理学。每个养殖场的牡蛎生理活性各不相同，巴尼加特湾的牡蛎最活跃，里霍博斯湾的牡蛎最不活跃。观察到季节性生理趋势，过滤行为通常在温暖的月份增加。所有农场的生理活动增加都与盐度和温度的增加有关，但每个农场的生理活动都与不同的环境变量相关，包括总颗粒物和有机物含量。这项研究提供了一个可靠的数据集，可以纳入估计大西洋中部生态过滤率的模型中，并为支持双壳类水产养殖作为营养减少策略的越来越多的证据提供了补充。