Growth of the tropical scallop, Euvola (Pecten) ziczac, in bottom and suspended culture in the Golfo de Cariaco, Venezuela

We compared the growth of the scallop Euuolu (Pecten) ziczuc (L.) in three situations which
potentially could be used for commercial culture, in cages maintained in suspension, in cages on the
bottom and in cages partly buried in a sediment bottom. The latter permitted the scallops to bury
themselves as in their natural habitat. Throughout the 7-month study, growth, as measured by shell
length and muscle mass, was by far superior for scallops in the partly buried cages. Possible explanations
for this are ( 1) that the scallops are stressed by enclosures which prevent them from burying
themselves and (2) that organic material at the sediment/water interface is an important food resource
and E. ziczac has better access to this when it buries itself flush with the bottom. The timing of gonadal
growth and spawning varied markedly among treatments. Some spawnings coincided with temperature
increases but others did not. Differences between scallops in suspension compared to those in bottom
treatments suggested that reproduction is as much controlled by conditions in the immediate environment
of the scallops as by large-scale environmental factors. Survival was highest for the scallops
maintained in partly buried cages.