Recruitment and growth of Megabalanus azoricus (Pilsbry, 1916) on artificial substrates: first steps towards commercial culture in the Azores

• Autor(a) principal: Pham, Christopher K.
• Data de Publicação: 2011
• Outros Autores: Girolamo, Mirko De, Isidro, Eduardo
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.3/1227
• topic: Giant Barnacle; Growth; Mariculture; Recruitment; Azores Islands

This paper reports the results of preliminary research evaluating the potential of farming Megabalanus azoricus. From March 2006 to September 2006, artificial substrates were immersed bi-monthly in a shallow water bank located in the channel separating the islands of Faial and Pico, Azores. They were monitored monthly for a period of 12 months by scuba-diving. M. azoricus rapidly colonised the immersed substrates, establishing itself as the dominant organism. Even though recruitment was observed year round, there was a peak in recruitment between June and October. The substrate immersed for the longest period (15 months) presented final densities of 1109 ind. m-2, from which 20.2% were of edible size. Growth was monitored for 18 isolated barnacles for 8 months. Growth rate proved to be high (base diameter; 0.08 ± 0.02 mm day-1; mean ± SD), with individuals reaching diameters of 21.35 ± 6.2 mm after 8 months. Considering this growth rate, it was estimated that after a further 9 months, over 80% of the total densities (on the oldest substrate ) would be harvestable, thus suggesting a production cycle of 17 to 24 months. Although much further research is needed, the species presents all characteristics of a potential candidate to initiate the aquaculture industry in the Azores.