Assessing the Age and Growth of the Butter Clam Saxidomus purpuratus in Jinhae Bay Using Transmitted Light

투과광을 이용한 한국 진해만 개조개(Saxidomus purpuratus)의 연령과 성장

The age and growth of butter clams Saxidomus purpuratus were estimated using transmitted light on the shells of 364 samples from January 2017 to December 2017 in Jinhae Bay. Based on monthly variation in the marginal index (MI) of the shell, it is assumed that rings are formed once a year during the period from July to August in this species. The relationship between shell length (SL; mm) and shell height (SH; mm) was expressed by the equation SH=0.8053SL-2.9636 ($R^2=0.94$) and between SL and shell width (SW; mm) by the equation SW=0.5648SL-3.7105 ($R^2=0.90$). The relationship between SL and total weight (TW; g) was expressed by the following equation: $TW=0.00009SL^{3.2141}$ ($R^2=0.96$). von Bertalanffy's growth parameters were estimated using the regression wizard in the SigmaPlot computer program (Systat Software, Inc., v. 10.0). The maximum shell length ($SL_{\infty}$) was 126.16 mm, growth rate was 0.2030/year, theoretical age at shell length 0 ($t_0$) was -0.52 years, and asymptotic total weight ($TW_{\infty}$) was 509.17 g. Growth curves for SL and TW fitted to the von Bertalanffy's equation were expressed as follows: $SL_t=126.16(1-e^{-0.2030(t+0.52)})$, $TW_t=509.17(1-e^{-0.2030(t+0.52)})^{3.2141}$.