Afizah Mohd Taib, John Madin, and Julian Ransangan

DOI: 10.14456/sjst-psu.2016.80

pp. 631 - 639

Abstract

Density, recruitment and growth performance of Asian green mussel (Perna viridis) in a particular coastal marine
environment can be affected by many factors, including environmental change, pollution, disease outbreak and massive
mortality event. The present study was conducted to determine the density, recruitment and growth performance of farmed
Asian green mussel in Marudu Bay, three years after a mass mortality event. The study was carried out for 12 months between
April 2013 and March 2014. The length frequency data of 1,308 individuals of green mussel were analyzed using the latest
version of the FAO-ICLARM Fish Stock Assessment Tools (FiSAT II). The result showed that the green mussel recruitment
in Marudu Bay occurs throughout the year with two major peaks i.e. February and July which coincided with the monsoon
seasons. The asymptotic length (L∞), growth coefficient (K) and growth performance index (φ’) of the farmed Asian green
mussel in Marudu Bay are relatively high at 113.4 mm, 1.7 year^-1 and 4.34, respectively. However, despite good culture location,
the settlement density of green mussel in the bay was low. We suspected that the low settlement density could be influenced
by the ecological effects due to the long term suspension of the culture substrates and the physiochemical properties of the
water in Marudu Bay. Nevertheless, chlorophyll-á measurement alone was not able to justify if food scarcity has resulted in
high mortality of the farmed Asian green mussel in Marudu Bay.