RELATIONSHIPS AMONG ENVIRONMENT, SPAWNING AND SETTLEMENT OF QUEEN SCALLOP IN THE RIA DE AROSA (GALICIA, NW SPAIN)

This study examines the relationship of the reproductive and reserve s torage cycles and spat settlement of the Queen scallop (Aequipecten op ercularis) to environmental factors. The possibility of farming this s pecies from spat settled on collectors is considered. The gonad condit ion index shows maximum values between mid-May and early August. Anoth er peak occurs in mid-November. In spring and summer, the energy neede d for gametogenesis is derived from food, although it is possible that direct transfer may occur from the digestive gland to the gonad. The glycogen and lipid content of the reserve organs reaches maximum value s between late summer and early autumn. The energy requirements relate d to gametogenesis, which begins in autumn, involve the consumption of accumulated reserves with the resulting reduction in the condition in dices. There is a positive correlation between temperature and the con dition indices of the digestive gland, the adductor muscle and their l ipid and glycogen content, respectively. Two settlement periods were r ecorded, one in winter, which could not be associated with the spawnin g of the experimental animals, and another in summer, which coincided with the spawning that took place in spring. The reduced gonad indices recorded at the end of the summer and in winter did not lead to settl ement.