VELYGER Database: The Oyster Larvae Monitoring French Project

• Main Authors: Pouvreau, Stephane, Maurer, Daniele, Auby, Isabelle, Lagarde, Franck, Le Gall, Patrik, Cochet, Hélène, Bouquet, Anne-lise, Geay, Amélie, Mille, Dominique
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: SEANOE 2022
• Subjects: Pacific; Crassostrea gigas; Pacific oyster
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.17882/41888; https://www.seanoe.org/data/00308/41888/

Worldwide, shellfish aquaculture and fisheries in coastal ecosystems represent crucial activities for human feeding. But these biological productions are under the pressure of climate variability and global change. Anticipating the biological processes affected by climate hazards remains a vital objective for species conservation strategies and human activities that rely on. Within marine species, filter feeders like oysters are real key species in coastal ecosystems due to their economic and societal value (fishing and aquaculture) but also due to their ecological importance. Indeed oysters populations in good health play the role of ecosystem engineers that can give many ecosystem services at several scales: building reef habitats that contribute to biodiversity, benthic-pelagic coupling and phytoplankton bloom control through water filtration, living shorelines against coastal erosion… The Pacific oyster, Crassostrea gigas (Thunberg, 1793), which is currently widespread worldwide, was introduced into the Atlantic European coasts at the end of the 19th century for shellfish culture purposes and becomes the main marine species farmed in France (around 100 000 tons) despite severe mortalities crisis. But in the same time and because of warming, natural oysters beds has spread significantly along the French coast and are supposed to have reach approximately 500 000 tons. In that context, Pacific oyster populations (natural and cultivated) in France are the subjects of many scientific projects. Among them, a specific long-term biological monitoring focuses on the reproduction of these populations at a national scale: the VELYGER national program. With more than 8 years of weekly data at many stations in France, this field-monitoring program offers a valuable dataset for studying processes underpinning reproduction cycle of this key-species in relation to environmental parameters, water quality and climate change. Database content: Larval concentration (number of individuals per 1.5 m3) monitored, since 2008, at ...