Author(s)

Yih-Tsong Ueng^1*, Yi-Kuang Wang², Chun-Wen Tsao¹, Yin Chang³, Shu-Chu Tung¹, Jung-Ting Hsu³

¹Department of Environmental Engineering, Kun-Shan University, Tainan.
²Department of Ecology and Environmental Resource, National University of Tainan, Tainan.
³Tainan Hydraulics Laboratory, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan.

The Portuguese oyster (Crassostrea angulata) is an important fishery resource in Taiwan. This study investigated oyster cultures at two locations along the coast of Taisi Township from March 2012 to July 2014. The average recruitment density, measured once every two weeks, of the oyster larvae was 256.4 ± 236.6 individuals/shell (N = 62) at site A and 118.5 ± 140.2 individuals/shell (N = 39) at site B. The average adherence density of the barnacle larvae was 187.1 ± 251.2 individuals/shell (N = 60) at site A and 60.9 ± 112.5 individuals/shell (N = 37) at site B. In Taiwan, C. angulata spawned all year. The primary spawning season was from March to September. The primary of adherence spawning season of barnacles was from March to October. Rainfall was the major factor that influenced oyster C. angulata and barnacle settlement, the eigenvalue of PC1 was 1.83 and could explain 61.0%. There are two main culturing seasons that move oyster larvae from coast of Taisi to farms in other places: from March to May and from August to September. Although the oyster larvae are more abundant in spring, fishermen prefer harvesting the larvae in autumn to avoid the typhoon season (July-September).

Correlation, Influence, Rainfall, Recruitment, Spat

Ueng, Y. , Wang, Y. , Tsao, C. , Chang, Y. , Tung, S. and Hsu, J. (2020) Monitoring and Assessment of Oyster and Barnacle Larvae Settlement in an Oyster Farm in Western Taiwan. Natural Resources, 11, 112-126. doi: 10.4236/nr.2020.113007.