Optimal conditions for artificial fertilization, embryonic development, and larval growth of the purple clam, Saxidomus purpuratus from southern coast of Korea

Abstract

To obtain the basic information on culture conditions for the larvae of Saxidomus purpuratus, experiments were conducted on the population from southern coast for (1) the success in fertilization and development from artificial fertilization among different months of a year, (2) the viability of sperms after exposure to seawater, (3) and the effects of temperature, salinity, and food organism on the survival and growth of larvae. Gametes obtained from dissection showed high rate of fertilization at all months. But the rate of development was higher only May-July. Developmental success seemed to be related with the quality of eggs at the time of fertilization. Developmental times for 2-cell, 4-cell, 8-cell, blastula, trochophore larva, and veliger larva at 20℃ were 1.5, 2, 4, 18, 24, and 32 hr, respectively. Sperms could survive for more than 8 hr, however, actively swimming sperms could be found within 1 hr after exposure to seawater. It is recommended that sperms should be used for fertilization as soon as possible when they are exposed to seawater. At temperature of 35℃, all the larvae died during 48 hr. Larval survival decreased when salinity was either lower than 20 psu or higher than 40 psu, and was 0% when salinity was 10 psu. Optimal range of temperature and salinity for rearing larvae of S. purpuratus were 20-25℃ and 20-40 psu, respectively. Larvae grew from 111.5 to 235.3 μm during 21 days. Larvae fed mixed diets grew faster than unialgal diets. The fastest growth was observed when larvae were fed on the mixture of Isochrysis galbana and Nannochloris oculata.