The Influence of Temperature - Food Availability on the Tissue Growth of Sea Scallop Placopecten magellanicus

A study of the growth of the sea scallop, Placopecten magellanicus, under suspended culture conditions was carried out over a seven month period at a culture site in Graves Shoal, Mahone Bay,Nova Scotia – Canada. Scallop spat were cultivated in pearl nets at a density of 30-35 per net set at four locations corresponding to the surface (7 m) and bottom (14 m) at the outer edge and the center of the site. Whole tissue weight was measured at monthly intervals. Environmental conditions represented as temperature and food availability at the surface and bottom over the same period were also monitored. The result showed that the mean values of whole tissue weight at the surface sites were greater than that at the bottom sites, but there were not significantly different between the outside sites and the inside sites. Growth in whole tissue weight was not to correlate to temperature - food availability.