Biofouling development and its effect on growth and reproduction of the farmed pearl oyster Pinctada margaritifera

• Published in: Aquaculture
• Main Authors: Lacoste, Élise, Le Moullac, Gilles, Levy, Peva, Gueguen, Yannick, Gaertner-Mazouni, Nabila
• Other Authors: Ecosystèmes Insulaires Océaniens (UMR 241) (EIO), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Université de la Polynésie Française (UPF)-Institut Louis Malardé Papeete (ILM), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), Interactions Hôtes-Pathogènes-Environnements (IHPE), Université de Perpignan Via Domitia (UPVD)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Montpellier (UM)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2014
• Subjects: Pearl oyster culture; Pinctada margaritifera; Biofouling; Growth; Reproduction; CRASSOSTREA-GIGAS THUNBERG; FRENCH-POLYNESIA; SUSPENDED CULTURE; FOULING ORGANISMS; NEW-ZEALAND; PTERIIDAE; STRESS; MAXIMA; FUCATA; SUCCESSION; [SDV.BA.ZI]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Animal biology/Invertebrate Zoology; New Zealand; Crassostrea gigas
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-01736422; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaculture.2014.07.012

International audience In bivalve aquaculture, dominant fouling organisms are filter feeders which can compete for food with reared bivalves, sometimes causing mortality or reducing their growth rate. This study investigated the effect of biofouling on the farmed pearl oyster Pinctada margantifera in two lagoons of French Polynesia. Survival, growth and reproduction of 2 year-old pearl oysters were monitored with regular sampling schedules, from the initial stage of colonization up to 20 months of biofouling accumulation. Control groups of pearl oysters were kept free of biofouling as is the current practice in pearl farms. After more than a year of monitoring, no significant difference was recorded in shell growth rate between pearl oysters reared with epibionts and the control group of pearl oysters, at both sites. Mean annual shell growth rate (height) was 30.5 +/- 9.2 mm in Tahiti and 24.8 +/- 7.7 mm in Mangareva. Neither the survival nor the reproduction indices were negatively affected by biofouling. In Mangareva, where biofouling development was quantified during 1 year, the rate of colonization appeared to be high during the first 3 months before slowing down. These results raise questions about the necessity of removing biofouling at this stage of pearl oyster production (i.e. before grafting).