Spat collection, growth and meat yield of Pinna bicolor (Gmelin) in suspended culture in northern Australia Andrew C. Beer 1 , Paul C. Southgate ⁎ Pearl Oyster Research Group, School of Marine Biology and Aquaculture, James Cook University, Townsville, Qld 4811, Australia Received 5 November 2005; received in revised form 4 April 2006; accepted 11 April 2006 Abstract Five species within the Family Pinnidae were collected on spat collectors at Pioneer Bay, Orpheus Island, north Queensland, Australia. Pinna bicolor represented N 99% of recruits. Approximately 950 P. bicolor spat recruited to collectors during 12 months of study beginning in late summer (March) with recruitment showing a distinct pulse during March/April with mean (± S.E.) recruitment of 72±7 spat per collector. There was no significant difference between the intensity of recruitment at depths of 2 and 6m(P b 0.05). P. bicolor spat grew rapidly following removal from spat collectors and had a mean hinge length (HL) of over 150 mm after 1 year in suspended culture. Gonad development was evident within 12 months and a reduced growth rate at this time may be attributable to reproductive activity. After 80 weeks, mean (±S.E.) HL was 176.5 ± 3.9 mm with a mean (± S.E.) whole wet weight of 114.3 ± 17.5 g. Tissue wet weight was 27.5 ± 0.5% of whole wet weight and the wet weight of the posterior adductor muscle was 3.5 ± 0.1% of whole wet weight and 12.8 ± 0.3% of tissue wet weight. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Pinna bicolor; Pinnidae; Spat collection; Recruitment; Growth; Meat yield 1. Introduction Pinna spp. (Family Pinnidae), commonly called razor fish, fan mussels or pen shells, have a characteristic thin, wedge-shaped, fragile shell. Pinnids are cultured or har- vested from wild populations throughout the Indo-Pacific and are highly prized as a food source (Cendejas et al., 1985). They have a number of characteristics that make them suitable candidates for aquaculture: (1) seed can be obtained from the wild through spat collection (Cendejas et al., 1985; Sumpton et al., 1990) or from hatchery pro- duction (Guo et al., 1987; Sahavacharin et al., 1988); (2) growth is rapid and individuals may attain a shell length of 200–300 mm in 1 year (Cendejas et al., 1985); and (3) they are considered a delicacy in many countries (parti- cularly in Asia) where there are ready markets. Recent research on the general biology or commercial production of Pinnids has focused on Atrina pectinata in China (Guo et al., 1987), Pinna rugosa and Atrina maura in Mexico (Cendejas et al., 1985; Arizpe, 1995; Leyva-Valencia et al., 2002; Enriquez-Diaz et al., 2003), and Pinna nobilis in the Mediterranean (Richardson et al., 1999). Pinna bicolor is found in littoral sand and mud habitats and is widely distributed along both temperate and tropical coasts of Australia ( Lamprell and Aquaculture 258 (2006) 424 – 429 www.elsevier.com/locate/aqua-online ⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: +61 7 4781 5737; fax: +61 7 4781 4585. E-mail address: Paul.Southgate@jcu.edu.au (P.C. Southgate). 1 Present address: Fisheries Western Australia, 168 St. George's Terrace, Perth, Western Australia 6000, Australia. 0044-8486/$ - see front matter © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.aquaculture.2006.04.014