Publication Abstract

Indoor nursery cultivation of juvenile bivalve molluscs using diets of dried algae

I. Laing and P. F. Millican

Juvenile bivalve molluscs of three commercially valuable species (Tapes philippinarum, Crassostrea gigas and Ostrea edulis) were grown in 1000-1 recirculating seawater upwelling systems. Growth rate for Tapes philippinarum (Manila clam) with a dried (mixed) algae diet of Tetraselmis suecica and Cyclotella cryptica was only slightly lower than with a live (mixed) algae diet of T. suecica and Skeletonema costatum. Clams fed a mixture of 90% dried T. suecica and 10% live S. costatum grew as well as with the live (mixed) diet. When live S. costatum was used in the diet mixture, the inclusion of C. cryptica in the dried component did not improve growth rate. T. philippinarum juveniles grown in the upwelling systems were transferred to the sea, where animals previously fed the 100% dried diet showed greater growth potential than those previously fed the 100% live diet. Crassostrea gigas and Ostrea edulis (Pacific and European oysters) needed 30%-50% live S. costatum in diet mixtures with dried algae to support growth comparable to a mixed live algae diet. The cost of rearing juvenile bivalve molluscs in indoor nurseries in relation to the ration and diet fed is discussed.

Reference:

I. Laing and P. F. Millican, 1992. Indoor nursery cultivation of juvenile bivalve molluscs using diets of dried algae. Aquaculture, 102: 231-243.