POPULATION GROWTH OF GREEN MUSSEL, Perna viridis FROM SOUTHERN PART OF PENINSULAR MALAYSIA

Zaleha Kassim*, Mohd Luthfi Omar and Safiah Jasmani
 
 INOCEM Research Station
 Kulliyyah of Science
 International Islamic University Malaysia
 Kg. Cherok Paloh, 26160, Kuantan, Pahang
 
drzack@iium.edu.my

Bivalve mollusks production in Malaysia is still depending on the wild supplies of seeds. The broodstocks inhabit some parts of the sea bottom and release the seeds into the water column. The scarcity of information of their natural growth and ecology limits the progress of this industry. A research project was designed to investigate the population growth and some ecological aspects of Perna viridis inhabit the southern part of the Straits of Malacca.

Population and their growth in the natural habitat of the coastal area were monitored for one full year. Data on the change of length, weight, width (FIGURE1) and growth parameters were collected to establish a growth equation derived from the von Bertalanffy model.

The asymptotic length (L) was 120.75mm with the growth coefficient (K) 0.66year-1. Lower value of growth coefficient indicated the slow growing while high value showed faster growing organism.

The growth performance index (φ′) is 3.983 FIGURE 2. The asymptotic length reported in this study was higher than those samples from other studies in Malaysia and India. It showed the asymptotic length of Perna viridis slightly increase throughout the year from 1979 to the present study.