Growth Improvement of Shell Length in the Orange Strain of Manila Clam, Ruditapes philippinarum

Abstract

Mass selection for shell length was conducted in the orange strain of the Manila clam, Ruditapes philippinarum, in this study. Based on the size‐frequency distribution, the clams constituting the largest 10% of the distribution were selected as parents for the selected line. An equal number of clams of the orange strain were randomly chosen as parents for the control line prior to the size selection. The responses to selection and realized heritability were 2.37 and 0.61, respectively. In addition, 97.3% of the progenies inherited the orange shell color. Our results suggest that mass selection for fast growth of shell length in this orange strain of the Manila clam is effective.