Biological Carbon Dioxide Assimilation Process Using Marine Phytoplankton Tetraselmis suecica and Bivalve Perna viridis

The Biological CO2 assimilation process using marine phytoplankton and marine bivalve was evaluated by carbon assimilation of the green mussel Perna viridis fed with Tetraselmis suecica under laboratory condition. Incorporation of carbon dioxide into phytoplankton biomass was performed through aeration. The experiment consisted of three treatments i.e. mussels without feeding (Control), mussels fed with T. suecica cultured with air (Treatment 1: T-Air), and mussels fed with T. suecica cultured with 1.5% CO2 in air (Treatment 2: T-CO2). The results showed that growth of mussels in T-Air and T-CO2 was 22.4 ± 4.0 mg/individual/day and 28.9 ± 12.3 mg/individual/day, respectively, which was significantly higher than control (mussels without feeding). Growth of mussels in T-Air was significantly lower than in T-CO2. Carbon content in shell (15.59 ± 0.57 % D.W.) and meat (38.28 ± 1.72 % D.W.) of mussels fed with aerated T. suecica (T-Air) was significantly higher than that found in mussels fed with 1.5% CO2 T. suecica (14.2 ± 0.47 and 36.61± 0.43 % D.W. in shell and in meat, respectively) (p≤0.05). With T-Air, 1.95±0.27 and 9.36±1.24% of carbon from T. suecica cells was assimilated into shell and meat of the mussel, respectively, while in T-CO2 , carbon assimilation from T. suecica cells in shell and meat was 2.19±0.55 and 11.22±2.76% respectively.