Abstract
Results are presented from a three-year investigation of the relationship between accumulations of marine fouling organisms and growth of the pearl oyster Pinctada fucata (Gould). Estimates are provided of the diversity of the foulers, and data on certain hydrological features of the experimental site are also given.
There was an inverse correlation between growth of the pearl oyster and diversity of the biofouling assemblages, whatever depth. Growth curves did not follow seasonal variations in the environmental factors very exactly. It was also observed that the polychaete, Polydora vulgaris Mohammad, preferred the oysters planted on the bottom to those suspended near the surface. Bottom oysters suffered the highest mortality, but definite evidence of a relationship between mortality and infestation by the polychaete was not apparent. Percentages of both infestation and mortality were higher among the fouled oysters than those cleaned periodically.
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Mohammad, MB.M. Relationship between biofouling and growth of the pearl oyster pinctada fucata (Gould) in Kuwait, Arabian Gulf. Hydrobiologia 51, 129–138 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00009828
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00009828