![]() ![]() With increasing densities of artificial collectors in estuarine systems to meet system demands, however, further research is needed to investigate the potential draw of oyster larvae away from benthic oyster beds under more realistic natural conditions before broad conclusions regarding spat collector effects on wild oyster populations can be achieved. This experiment provides evidence supporting existing theories around recruitment behaviour by oyster larvae, mainly that settling oysters tend to sink before they settle, suggesting that spat collectors in the wild may have little effect on wild recruitment. region and to identi5 the best cultch for oyster seed. In both single substrate and choice experiments, results indicated that oyster larvae recruited in higher numbers to natural shell substrate located on the benthic surface compared to suspended shell and there were no significant differences among suspended substrates. The spat settlenlent of the edible oyster Crossostreo modroscn.nsis. Larvae were allowed to settle on various substrates where they occur in a natural system and were subsequently counted. In the laboratory, we mimicked the typical set-up of artificial spat collectors used in Atlantic Canada to measure differences in spat recruitment between locally-used artificial collectors and natural shell substrate under real-life spat-collection scenarios. Little is known, however, about the interactions between artificial spat collectors and naturally occurring substrates, and whether or not such collectors can affect oyster recruitment to wild beds which are simultaneously fished. severely affected oyster populations in the 1980s and led to lower natural reproduction. It has been found that some adult oyster can release pheromones that trigger the spat to settle early before they are pushed towards either the sea or the rivers, and have the best chance of surviving as well as contributing to the building of the reef. Recently, there has been an increased industry demand for oyster spat (i.e., newly-settled larvae), which is often collected using artificial spat collectors suspended in the water column. Our results indicated that significantly more oyster larvae settled on oyster shell at the bottom of our experimental units than on suspended shell in the water column, both when substrate types were offered alone and when oysters were given a choice. Lawrence, Canada to the Yucatan Peninsula and the West Indies. Eastern oysters ( Crassostrea virginica) are ecosystem engineers that are important to the ecological and economic sustainability of Atlantic Canada’s estuarine resources. The Eastern Oyster (Crassostrea virginica) is native to the eastern coast of America from St. ![]()
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