I. Laing et Nh. Earl, THE LIPID-CONTENT, SPATFALL AND SUBSEQUENT GROWTH OF EARLY AND LATE SETTLING HATCHERY-REARED PACIFIC OYSTER, CRASSOSTREA-GIGAS THUNBERG, LARVAE, Aquaculture research, 29(1), 1998, pp. 19-25
Six experimental batches of,Pacific oyster larvae, Crassostrea gigas T
hunberg, were reared on standard diet in the hatchery. After 8-12 days
from fertilization, the larvae were separated into two to three size
groups. These groups of larvae were then reared separately through to
settlement. A sample was taken from each group when the larvae had rea
ched the stage at which they were ready to settle for estimation of nu
mber, size and weight, and analysis of total lipid. All the spat that
settled from each group were removed daily during the settlement perio
d of 10-14 days. Selected samples of 1000 or more spat, collected from
a single (day) settlement, were reared in standard hatchery upwelling
systems for a further 30 days. Spatfall, as a percentage of the numbe
r of larvae in the group available to settle, was similar for all thre
e groups of larvae, although it varied between experiments, and was po
sitively correlated with the amount of lipid ih the eyed larvae. The a
verage spatfall, for all groups, was 44%. The dry and organic weights
of spat that settled from the group of larvae that grew fastest were s
ignificantly greater than that for spat from the group with the slowes
t growth rate. Lipid content of the spat in the three groups was simil
ar (9.3-12.4%). The spat that settled from the group of larvae that gr
ew fastest also tended to be biggest after rearing in the hatchery for
a further 30 days, but this result was not statistically significant.
Spat from within the same group of larvae also grew to a similar size
in this time, irrespective of whether they were collected during the
first 3 days of settlement, or after a further 5 days. In practical te
rms, the results of these experiments show that it is cost-effective f
or hatchery operators to maintain batches of larvae for as long as set
tlement continues, to maximize the output of spat numbers without any
danger of wasting resources by producing inferior quality or slower gr
owing animals.