Consequences of thermal history for growth, development and survival during metamorphosis and settlement for the European flat oyster
Alter, K.; Philippart, C.J.M.; Teng, S.; Bolier, H.; Drenth, P.; Dubbeldam, M. (2023). Consequences of thermal history for growth, development and survival during metamorphosis and settlement for the European flat oyster. Aquaculture 566: 739174. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaculture.2022.739174
In: Aquaculture. Elsevier: Amsterdam; London; New York; Oxford; Tokyo. ISSN 0044-8486; e-ISSN 1873-5622, more
The European Union's Habitats Directive has the obligation to restore natural habitats in order to increase biodiversity within Europe. The European flat oyster Ostrea edulis is a favorable habitat builder for ecological restoration for which large amounts of spat are needed. Yet, the supply of spat is a key limiting factor because rearing protocols for O. edulis have not been optimized. This study reports on successful hatchery production of O. edulis reared at different temperature regimes with the aim to determine the most suitable thermal condition for early-life growth and survival. Larvae were reared at 25 and 29 °C until they were competent for settlement. Then, the larval batch at either temperature was split into two. One half of the batch remained at the original temperature while the other half was exposed to another temperature (25 or 29 °C) until 14 days post settlement. Larval size was similar among temperature treatments until 10 days post release, after which larvae reared at 29 °C were slightly (3%) larger compared to those reared at 25 °C (p < 0.05). The percentage of larvae which developed competence for settlement was not different (p > 0.05) between 25 °C (37 ± 4%) and 29 °C (33 ± 4%). Two weeks post settlement, size of the spat reared at 29 °C with a larval thermal history of 25 °C was 23% larger (p < 0.05) compared to O. edulis constantly reared at either 29 or 25 °C. Spat survival, which varied between 29 ± 6% and 56 ± 15% among treatments, was not related to rearing temperatures during the larval and early benthic phase (p > 0.05). Spat reached a size at which they are suitable for release into restoration sites within two weeks, resulting in a hatchery period of as little as three weeks. Our results contribute to the optimization of O. edulis hatchery protocols to improve yields for a growing demand of spat used in ecological restoration.
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