Survival and settlement rates of Haliotis asinina larvae at different salinity levels

Abstract

The study was conducted to determine the optimum salinity levels (24 ppt, 28 ppt, 32 ppt, 36 ppt and 40 ppt) for the survival and settlement rates of H. asinina in a complete randomized design with three replicates each. The experimental animals were reared in 15 glass aquaria for the first run and in plexiglass for the second run. Feeding of Navicula spp. was done once a day. Temperature and dissolved oxygen were monitored throughout the experiment. Data were analyzed using One-Way ANOVA to determine significant difference among treatments at 0.05 level of significance using Social Package for Social Science. Result of the first run showed that 32 ppt had the highest mean survival (1.50%) and mean settlement rate (1.84%). Similar result was also observed in 32 ppt with highest mean survival (9.72%) and mean settlement rate (16.42%). Significant difference existed among treatments during the second run of the experiment. Results showed that 28 ppt and 32 ppt were the optimum salinity levels for survival and settlement rate of H. asinina. Further study should be conducted to determine the tolerance and settlement rates of H. asinina larvae to lower salinities until it reaches juvenile stage with first respiratory pore appearing.