An unexploited population of oysters,Ostrea lutaria Hutton,from foveaux strait

Settlement of Ostrea lutaria on sand‐cement‐plastered asbestos plates held in steel frames on the bottom of Foveaux Strait was studied from March 1965 to April 1967. Spat mortality over the period of plate exposure (about one month) was very low (maximum of 3 percent) and was greatest shortly after settlement. There was no evidence that mortality was due to predation. Essentially the same seasonal pattern of settlement was observed each year. Eighty to 90 percent of spat settled between mid December and mid February in both summers; settlement occurred as early as October; some was observed as late as July.

Results of field experiments suggest some very tentative conclusions on the settlement behaviour of O. lutaria: (1) The larvae are benthopelagic and remain on the bottom in strong current conditions. (2) Light stimulates swimming of larvae in still water. (3) In still water and low light intensities of the area larvae tend to swim upward toward the light. (4) In still water and dim light of the area larvae settle predominantly on under surfaces. (5) In still water in the absence of light larvae settle predominantly on upper surfaces. (6) Under the conditions of current and light in the multiplate frames used to sample spatfall here, larvae settle mainly on upper surfaces. (7) Larvae tend to crawl up inclined surfaces before settling.

The results indicate that larval behaviour may be changed by small alterations of light intensity and current. The contradictory nature of surface angle preferences found by other workers for various species of Ostrea and Crassostrea may have been due to such small variations caused by the experimental techniques. It is possible that the settlement behaviour of all species of these genera is similar.     

Some effects of experimental procedure on settlement of Ostrea Lutaria Hutton

The effect of experimental method on the settlement pattern of Ostrea Iutaria was tested. The intensity of settlement differed with the type of settlement surface and the angle of the surface. The method of arranging the plates, in series or singly, was critical in determining the variation of spatfall with surface angle; the type of plate had no effect on this. Possibly, a factor such as turbulence differences within the plate units affecting free‐swimming larvae about to settle could account for the different settlement patterns but whether these could be caused by a reversal of iesponses or to some passive concentraton mechanism is unknown. Similar variation in experimental techniques probably accounts for most of the conflict in previous reports on the pattern of oyster settlement related to surface angle.     

Catastrophic reduction of the oyster,Tiostrea chilensis (Bivalvia: Ostreidae), in Foveaux Strait,New Zealand,due to infestation by the protistan Bonamia sp.

Between 1985 and 1992, mortality due to infestation by the protistan Bonamia sp. severely reduced the numbers of the oyster, Tiostrea chilensis in Foveaux Strait, New Zealand. In 1990, two dredge surveys gave relative estimates, and a dive survey an absolute estimate, of the size of this oyster population; this allowed us to estimate dredge efficiency precisely. This estimate was used to re‐evaluate the dredge survey of 1975–76 and relate the size of the population in 1990 to that in 1975. By 1990 the population density had declined by 67% while a dredge survey in 1992 showed that the population density had declined by 91% from 1975. A dredge survey in 1993 showed that the population had increased slightly (but not significantly) over the 1992 level. By 1992 the population had probably been reduced below 10% of the virgin level. The fishery was closed in 1993 to allow the population to rebuild. The population surveys have followed stratified random and grid pattern sampling designs and the merits of the designs and methodology are discussed.     

Promising signs of regeneration of blue cod and oyster habitat changed by dredging in Foveaux Strait,southern New Zealand

Epifaunal reefs in Foveaux Strait are oyster (Ostrea chilensis Philippi, 1845) habitat. One hundred and thirty years of oyster dredging has diminished the complexity and distribution of these reefs. Commercial densities of blue cod (Parapercis colias (Forster in Bloch and Schneider, 1801)) were discovered on epifaunal reef habitat in 1989 and became the focus of a major blue cod fishery. We document habitat changes that followed the closing of the oyster fishery in 1993 and interactions between the blue cod and oyster fisheries after the oyster fishery was reopened in 1996. Evidence from blue cod fishers and oyster surveys suggests that the benthic habitat of some oyster beds regenerated in the absence of dredging and that the relative density of blue cod, and then oysters, rebuilt to commercial levels. Benthic habitat was modified once more when oyster dredging restarted and the relative density of blue cod on oyster beds fell again. The observations suggest that rotational fishing of oysters could mitigate the effects of dredging on habitat and that marine protected areas could expedite habitat recovery. Increasing habitat complexity and blue cod density on a reef of oyster shells formed by an oyster fisher suggests that habitat enhancement might remedy effects of dredging. The questions raised by the observations could be answered by management experiments on the scale of the fisheries.     

Growth rates of five species of surf clams on a southern North Island beach,New Zealand

Abstract

Growth rates of five species of surf clam were estimated on the Kapiti Coast, southern North Island, New Zealand. Length‐frequencies of sequential population samples were analysed by the computer program, MULTIFAN. Incremental growth of marked individuals was analysed by the computer program, GROTAG. The von Bertalanffy growth parameters k and L ₈ estimated by MULTIFAN for Spisula aequilatera (Deshayes in Reeve, 1854) were 0.80 yr^?1 and 52.1 mm; for Mactra murchisoni Deshayes in Reeve, 1854 were 0.60 yr^?1 and 72.3 mm; and for M. discors Gray, 1837 were 0.35 yr^?1 and 60.1 mm. MULTIFAN could not model growth of Paphies donacina (Spengler, 1793) and Dosinia anus (Philippi, 1848) from the population samples. The growth parameters estimated by GROTAG for D. anus were 0.53 yr^?1 and 53.0 mm and for M. murchisoni 1.84 yr^?1 and 72.4 mm. The growth rates of P. donacina, S. aequilatera, and M. discors were estimated for the size range of their incremental growth data and the estimates are usable for this limited size range only. Growth rates of each species varied with depth in the surf zone in the same way in the North and the South Island. The growth rate of two species was faster in the South Island and asymptotic size of all species was greater in the South Island.     

Phytoplankton biornass in relation to the surface hydrography of southern New Zealand and possible effects on the food chain

Abstract

The surface distribution of salinity, temperature, nitrate‐nitrogen (N0₃‐N), and chlorophyll a in the southern New Zealand, Foveaux Strait region in February 1977, 1978, 1979, and 1980 was highly variable. The source of new nitrogen appears to be incursions of high‐salinity water west and east of Stewart Island. Although it seems likely that the source of this high‐nutrient, high‐salinity water is vertical, a horizontal advective source cannot be ruled out The chlorophyll a content of surface waters was not related directly to the NO3‐N concentrations. This lower food chain variability may be linked to variability in economically important species. Oysters grew twice as fast in the summer of 1978/79 as they did in 1979/80. But the mean chlorophyll a values were very similar for February of both years (2.5 and 2.2 μg 1^?1, respectively). The elevated NO₃‐N levels in 1979 may have resulted in much higher phytoplankton levels later that summer and resulted in the higher oyster growth rate that year. The mechanisms driving this variability have yet to be determined.