Comparative Field Study Of Crassostrea gigas (Thunberg, 1793) And Crassostrea virginica (Gmelin, 1791) In Relation To Salinity In Virginia

• Main Authors: Calvo, Gustavo W., Luckenbach, Mark, Allen, Standish K., Burreson, Eugene
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: W&M ScholarWorks 1999
• Subjects: Crassostrea Gigas; Triploid; Growth; Survival; Disease Susceptibility; Virginia; ESL Publications; Biological Sciences Peer-Reviewed Articles; Aquaculture and Fisheries; Crassostrea gigas
• Online Access: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/vimsarticles/533; https://scholarworks.wm.edu/context/vimsarticles/article/1528/viewcontent/calvo1999.pdf

To evaluate and compare the performance of triploid juvenile C. gigas (mean shell height = 19.2 mm) and triploid juvenile Crassostrea virginica (mean shell height = 31.7 mm), 600 oysters of each species were deployed for 1 year in floating mesh cages at three replicate sites within low, medium, and high salinity regimes (respectively,25%) in the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Coast of Virginia. The comparative performance of the two oyster species varied with salinity. At low salinity sites, cumulative mortality of C. virginica (10%) was significantly (P < .05) lower than that of C. gigas (63%), and over-all mean growth rate of C. virginica (2.9 mm mo(-1)) was significantly (P < .05) higher than that of C. gigas (1.6 mm mo(-1)). At medium salinity sites, survival and growth rate of C. virginica and C. gigas were nor significantly (P > .05) different. Both species experienced moderately high cumulative mortality at the medium salinity sites-35% for C. virginica and 53% for C. gigas-but considerable variation among sires was observed. Ar high salinity sites, mean cumulative mortality was similarly low (