Abstract
Experimental studies conducted in Cochin harbour during 1967 to 1969 have shown thatMartesia striata settled on timber test panels during the months December to May when the salinity of water varied from 28·2‰ to 34·0‰ and temperature from 29·4° C to 32·5° C. The maximum size of the animals in one month old panels varied from 2·0 mm to 6·0 mm. The rate of growth in the second, third and fourth months varied from 6·0 mm to 16·0 mm; 4·0 mm to 19·0 mm; and 1·0 mm to 7·0 mm, respectively. The average growth rates calculated for the second, third and fourth months showed that the growth was rapid in the second and third months with the maximum in the third month. No definite correlation between the rate of growth and the hydrographic conditions was perceptible. The pattern of growth in the species was found to follow Bertalanffy’s equation. The length-height relationship during the course of growth inMartesia striata showed that in early stages up to 3 mm size, the length of the animal was equal to its height and as growth progressed the rate of increase in height gradually diminished and in large specimens the height measured only about half the length of the animal.
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Communicated by Prof. P. N. Ganapati,f.a.sc.
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Cheriyan, P.V., Cherian, C.J. Observations on the growth rate inMartesia striata (Linn.), the wood-boring pholad in the cochin harbour region on the south-west coast of India. Proc. Indian Acad. Sci. 79, 16–28 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03045433
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03045433