Results of this study suggest that laboratory growth of full-sib families of five
month old Pacific oyster spat can be predictive of growth to market size at different
grow-out sites. Seven to ten millimeter spat were selected from each of fifteen full-sib
families and commercially available polyploids. Each family was split into two
groups and exposed to either variable salinity (V.S., 3-30 ppt) or constant salinity
(C.S., 30 ppt) laboratory conditions for five months, then planted at either an upriver
or downriver subtidal site in the Yaquina estuary, Oregon. After six months of
growth in the estuary, the rankings of the families based on average individual
weights, specific growth rates (SGR), survival and yields were compared between
laboratory and estuary sites.
There was a significant effect of family, laboratory treatment and site upon
final individual live weights of oysters in the estuary (P=0.0001). The rankings of
families based on average individual laboratory weights were correlated with
average individual estuary weights at the downriver site (C.S. oysters, P=0.010,
V.S. oysters, P=0.005). Tetraploid oysters grew to heavier final estuary weights
than either triploids or diploids, with individual C.S. tetraploids averaging 79.4 g live
weight by fifteen months of age. Laboratory family rankings based on SGRs were
negatively correlated with estuary rankings of family SGRs for all treatments (P<0.0001, Rho=-0.668). Rankings of families based on laboratory yields on day 60
were correlated with standardized estuary yield rankings for all treatments, except
V.S. oysters planted downriver. Laboratory yields of families were also found to be
predictive of estuary yields at an intertidally planted site in Sequim Bay,
Washington, indicating the potential for predicting yields across a wide range of sites
and culture methods (subtidal vs. intertidal).
Oyster breeding programs may realize more efficient progress from the
results of this study. If family yields at grow-out sites can be predicted from spat
yields in the laboratory, poor and average families could be identified early at the
spat stage, eliminating the need to expend resources to plant them out at test sites. / Graduation date: 2000
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/28555 |
| Date | 16 August 1999 |
| Creators | Brooks, Christopher |
| Contributors | Langdon, Christopher J. |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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