Combined effects of temperature, salinity and rearing density on growth and survival of juvenile ivory shell, Babylonia areolata (Link 1807) population in Thailand

Abstract

The ivory shell, Babylonia areolata (Link 1807), has been exploited as an important aquaculture organism along the southern China coast. In order to obtain optimal culture conditions for ivory shell juvenile, the central composite rotatable design was used to estimate the combined effects of temperature, salinity and rearing density on accumulated growth rate (AGR) and survival rate (SR). The results showed that the linear effects of temperature and rearing density on both growth and survival were highly significant (P < 0.01), but there was no significant effect on salinity (P > 0.05). The quadratic effects of temperature, salinity and rearing density influenced growth significantly (P < 0.01). The quadratic effects of temperature and salinity on survival of juvenile snail were significant (P < 0.01), the combined effects between the quadratic effect of temperature and the linear effect of rearing density influenced survival significantly (P < 0.01); the interactive effects of temperature, salinity and rearing density played a significant role in survival (P < 0.01). As can be seen from the above experimental results, the effects of temperature and salinity on growth and survival of B. areolata were strengthened with enhanced rearing density in a certain range and vice versa. By optimization using the response surface method, the optimal point was found at a temperature of 26.81°C, a salinity of 28.76 ppt and a rearing density of 527.07 ind m−2. Under these conditions, the optimal AGR and SR were 36.84 mg day−1 and 99.99%, respectively, with a satisfaction function value of 99.71%.