Aquaculture Reports (Aug 2024)
Aquaculture potential of Crassostrea dianbaiensis and Crassostrea iredalei in southern China
Abstract
Due to the discovery of Crassostrea dianbaiensis and C. iredalei in southern China, they may be considered important germplasm resources. However, the artificial breeding and large-scale aquaculture of these two oysters have not been extensively developed in China. Therefore, this study evaluated the artificial breeding and aquaculture potential of these two oysters and compared them with an economic species, C. hongkongensis in southern China. In addition, this study also investigated the effects of different species, sites, and their interactions on growth traits. The results indicated that under different salinities (16–32 ppt), the D larval rate of C. dianbaiensis and C. iredalei were both high, C. dianbaiensis could reach over 60 % (20–32 ppt), while C. iredalei could reach over 85 % (16–28 ppt). At the 15th day, the survival rates of C. dianbaiensis and C. iredalei larvae were significantly higher than those of C. hongkongensis (P C. hongkongensis > C. iredalei). During the grow-out stage (90th to 360th days), the cumulative survival rate was significantly influenced by sites and interaction effects (P < 0.05). On the 360th day, at the Sanbaimen site, the cumulative survival rate of C. dianbaiensis was significantly higher than that of C. iredalei and C. hongkongensis (P < 0.05). For yearling progeny, at the Sanbaimen site, the shell height of C. dianbaiensis was significantly higher than that of C. iredalei and C. hongkongensis, influenced by different species, site, and interaction effects (P < 0.001). In terms of relative yield, at the Sanbaimen site, the relative yield of C. dianbaiensis was significantly higher than that of C. hongkongensis (P < 0.05), while there was no significant difference between C. iredalei and C. hongkongensis. In conclusion, our study demonstrates that the potential for large-scale commercial aquaculture of C. dianbaiensis is feasible and has an improvement effect on the existing commercial oyster industry in southern China.