EVALUATION OF FIVE MICROALGAL SPECIES FOR THE GROWTH OF EARLY SPAT OF THE JAPANESE PEARL OYSTER PINCTADA FUCATA MARTENSII

K. Numaguchi-2000

Journal of Shellfish Research, 19 (1) : 153-157 (from Current Contents)

Abstract :

To estimate the food value of five microalgal species, early spat of the Japanese pearl oyster, Pinctada funcata martensii, were fed five algal species separately; Pavlova lutheri, Chaetoceros calcitrans, Tetraselmis tetrathele, Nitzschia closterium, and Nannochloropsis oculata. The food value of each microalgal species was estimated from the growth rate of hinge length: dry whole spat, dry shell weight, and dry flesh weight of spat fed each microalgal diet over 19 days in the laboratory. C. calcitrans produced the best growth of the pearl oyster spat. P. lutheri and T. tetrathele supported moderate growth of the spat. However. growth rate of the spat fed Nitzschia closterium was very low and spat fed Nannochloropsis oculata showed negligible growth. These results indicate that C. calcitrans is an appropriate microalgal diet for rearing pearl oyster spat. P. lutheri and T. tetrathele are also suitable diets for rearing early spat of pearl oysters.

(Natl Res Inst Fisheries Sci, 631 Nagai, Yokosuka, Kanagawa 2380316, Japan)

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