Abstract
Size-frequency distributions of Meretrix lusoria, a commercially important bivalve in Japan, were compared among 6 sites in tidal flats of a small river in Kafuri Bay, northern Kyushu, Japan during 2006–2008. In Kafuri Bay, the hard clam resource is strictly managed and mean biomass of this species on the fishing ground (about 1.5 km2) exceeded 1.5 kg m−2 in 2008. Small clams (<5 mm in shell length, SL) were most abundant in the border area between the river and the sea, while large clams (>40 mm SL) were rare there. In contrast, in the lower site of the marine area (site L), most clams were >30 mm SL. These results indicate that small clams move from riverine to marine areas with growth (post-settlement movement). Year-round, very small clams (<1 mm SL) were present and clams that were 2–5 mm SL were very rare, although the spawning season is thought to occur in summer. Probably, the early growth of many new recruits is very slow and most may even be <1 mm SL in the next spring, although some clams grow to >5 mm SL in a short period of time.
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Acknowledgments
We thank two anonymous reviewers for their valuable reviews of the manuscript, Takashi Henmi, Shinsuke Kajiwara and Takeshi Nagasaki for their assistance during the field sampling, and Yukari Hayashida, Akiyo Maenaka and Keiko Shiohira for their assistance in the laboratory. This work was partly supported by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (No. 19580210 and 21580228 to YH).
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Henmi, Y., Kobayashi, S., Yamaguchi, J. et al. Recruitment and movement of the hard clam Meretrix lusoria in a tidal river of northern Kyushu, Japan. Fish Sci 80, 705–714 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12562-014-0753-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12562-014-0753-7