Influence of stocking density on growth of scallop (Patinopecten yessoensis) in Nanji sea region of Zhejiang

A study on theinfluence of stocking density on the growth of scallop (Patinopecten yessoensis) was conducted. Three trial groups, D1, D2 and D3, were designed, with three triparallel cages in each trial group; the stocking densitieswere 5, 10 and 15 indlayer-1, respectively. The results showed that shell height (SH), body mass(BM), relative growth rate of shell height (GRH), relative growth rate of body mass (GRM), daily shell height gain (DHG), daily body mass gain (DMG), the ratio of body mass to shell height and specific growth rate (SGRSH, SGRBM) decreased significantly with increasing stocking density, and the effect of stocking density on them was significantly different (P0.05). Logistic curves of shell height with growth time were SH1=8.3613/(e-1.0830-0.0069t+1) (R2=0.9757), SH2=7.6059/(e-1. 4293-0.0069t+1)(R2=0.9747) andSH3=7.4744/(e-1.5033-0.0062t+1)(R2=0.9740), respectively;exponent curves of body mass with growth time were BM1=32.2480e0.0054t (R2=0.9957), BM2=30.3170e0.0050t (R2=0.9977) andBM3=30.6740e0.0041t (R2=0.9923), respectively. The effect of stocking density on relative condition factor (RCF) in June as well as on mortality in late May was significant (P0.05). The results indicated that the proper stocking density was 10 indlayer-1, which may provide important references for large-scale commercial farming of scallop in the south coastal area of China.