Y. Tomaru et al., Mass mortality of the Japanese pearl oyster Pinctada fucata martensii in relation to water temperature, chlorophyll a and phytoplankton composition, DIS AQU ORG, 44(1), 2001, pp. 61-68
Mass mortalities of the Japanese pearl oyster Pinctada fucata martensii hav
e widely occurred in western Japan since 1994. The causes of these mass mor
talities are at present not thoroughly understood. In this study, we invest
igated oyster survival in relation to some environmental factors such as wa
ter temperature, concentration of chlorophyll a and density or composition
of phytoplankton. The examined mass mortality occurred from September to De
cember 1998, and the color on the adductor muscle of the oysters was red-br
own, suggesting an infectious disease. Oysters that became moribund during
the experiment lost weight, while the weight of unaffected oysters increase
d. The cell density of Nitzschia spp., an inedible algae for the oyster, in
Uchiumi Bay increased before and during the mass mortality event, From the
results of our study, we hypothesize that P. fucata martensii was weakened
by starvation because of the dominance of inedible food and then contracte
d an infectious disease that resulted in mortality.