Sex-specific growth and condition of the Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas Thunberg)

Abstract

In order to study the possibility of gaining commercial benefit from culturing an excess of one sex of the Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas), comparative data on the growth rate and condition of male and female oysters are reported. Historically, measurement of sex-specific growth rate in oysters has been overlooked or confounded by protandric sex. The recent conclusion that the sex ratio of Pacific oysters is predominantly under genetic rather than environmental control introduces the possibility of manipulating sex ratio for commercial gain if they exhibit asynchronous sex-specific growth rates. Pacific oysters were cultured intertidally in Smoky Bay, south Australia. The observations, made over the 7-month gametogenic cycle from August to February to ensure no sex reversal, were of growth rates of male and female oysters and ambient chlorophyll a concentrations. Mean shell growth of female oysters was significantly faster than that of males (4.5 ± 3.3 compared with 3.8 ± 3.2 μm day−1 mm−1 total length). Sex-specific asymmetries in length and weight were generally significant and increased in magnitude during the 7-month study period, suggesting potential commercial benefits from increasing the proportion of cultured female oysters. The fastest increase in the sex-specific disparity in growth and condition came after the October chlorophyll a peak, suggesting that females utilize blooms more efficiently than males. Our results compare favourably with methods currently used to increase oyster growth (e.g. triploidy can provide growth gains of 13–51%).