Search

Copyright of Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad is the property of Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Instituto de Biologia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

We evaluated the growth and survival of the mangrove oyster Crassostrea rhizophorae (30 mm maximum length) reared in two suspended-culture systems (raft and long-line) using three types of enclosures (oyster enclosures, lantern nets and enclosures based on crates used to transport fish), at a density of 750 ind m-2, in La Restinga Lagoon, Margarita Island, Venezuela, over the course of six months. No significant differences were found in shell growth (length and mass) due to the system and enclosures used; however, raft-cultured oysters showed better tissue growth. At the end of the study, the oysters in lantern nets suspended from rafts obtained a tissue mass that was around 40% higher than that of the rest of the oysters cultured in the other enclosures. Significant differences in oyster survival were not observed for the raft and long-line systems used, but the cumulative survival at the end of the study was significantly higher for the oyster enclosures (52-56%) than for the lantern nets (36-39%) and fish crates (24-25%). We therefore recommend employing rafts and discarding the use of crate-type enclosures in the culture of C. rhizophorae in lagoon systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]