Physiological Responses of Clam (Ruditapes philippinarum) to Transport Modes with Different Temperatures.

Given the increased circulation time after fishing, a series of changes take place in live clams, leading to a deterioration in quality even after death. Thus, in this study, we aimed to explore the optimal mode of transportation of clams. The container for holding clams was reformed, and a water circulation temperature control system was established. The physiological responses of clams during anhydrous and watery transportation at two temperatures (4 and 15 °C) were investigated based on the aforementioned system. When comparing the transportation patterns after 3 d of transport, a higher survival rate was observed at 4°C (97%) than at 15 C (63%) in the anhydrous transportation groups and a lower survival rate was observed at 4°C (93%) than at 15°C (99%) in the watery transportation groups. In addition, the glycogen content, condition index (CI), and adenylate energy charge (A.E.C) value were higher at 4°C ((40.87 ± 0.99) mg g⁻¹, 13.71% ± 0.50% and 57.45% ± 1.60%) than at 15°C ((30.54 ± 0.81) mg g⁻¹, 9.09% ± 0.30% and 43.12% ± 1.65%) in the anhydrous transportation groups. In the watery transportation groups, a lower glycogen content, CI, and A.E.C. value were observed at 4°C ((33.78 ±0.84) mg g⁻¹, 9.78% ± 0.50% and 64.65% ±1.25%) than at 15°C ((41.53 ± 0.93) mg g⁻¹, 12.72% ± 0.83% and 71.58% ± 1.27%). Results from this study show that anhydrous transportation (4°C) is the optimal transport condition for clams to maintain a high quality and good physiological conditions. Thus, this study will be particularly useful for establishing shellfish transportation systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]