Survival and growth of geoduck clam larvae (Panopea generosa) in flow‐through culture tanks under laboratory conditions

• Published in: Aquaculture research Vol. 49; no. 1; pp. 294 - 300
• Main Authors: Nava‐Gómez, Gabriel Enrique, Garcia‐Esquivel, Zaúl, Carpizo‐Ituarte, Eugenio, Olivares‐Bañuelos, Tatiana N
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Hindawi Limited 01.01.2018
• Subjects: Aquaculture; bivalve larvae; Clams; Culture tanks; Dilution; Fiberglass; flow‐through; geoduck culture; Growth rate; Inflow; Ingestion; Laboratories; Larvae; larval culture; Limiting factors; Optimization; Panopea; Panopea generosa; Renewal; Seed production; Stocking; Stocking density; Survival; Systems design; Tanks; Water flow
• ISSN: 1355-557X; 1365-2109
• DOI: 10.1111/are.13460

The geoduck clam, Panopea generosa, is a species from the west coast of Baja California, Mexico, and the optimization of seed production systems is still a limiting factor for its aquaculture. In this study, a flow‐through culture system was designed and tested in P. generosa larvae. Survival and growth was compared in triplicate 45‐L fiberglass tanks using three larval densities (5, 10 and 15 larvae/ml). A head tank kept constant the water inflow, with a daily renewal rate of 1.8× tank volume. The food (Isochrysis spp.) was dosed according to the ingestion rate of larvae and the dilution rate. Survival decreased linearly during the first 10 days and reached asymptotic values of ca. 20% (15 larvae/ml) and 50% (densities of 5 and 10 larvae/ml) afterwards. Mean shell length at the end of the experiment (243 ± 1.8 to 270 ± 0.7 μm) was not statistically different among treatments, even though a trend towards higher gross growth rate was observed in the treatment with the lowest density (9.5 μm/day) relative to the rest of the treatments (8.5 μm/day). It is concluded that P. generosa larvae can be successfully grown in flow‐through systems at maximum densities of 10 larvae/ml without significantly affecting their survival and growth rates. The system design was reliable, kept a constant water flow with reduced maintenance, and may represent an important option in the laboratory for increasing the stocking density of Panopea species during the larval phase.