Settlement of juveniles of pearl oyster (Pinctada imbricata) on artificial collectors in Caraguatatuba, Sao Paulo, Brazil Ligia Coletti Bernadochi 1 , Jos e Luiz Alves 2 & Helcio Luis de Almeida Marques 1 1 Aquaculture Center, Fisheries Institute – APTA – SAA – SP, Sao Paulo, Brazil 2 Cocanha Beach Fishermen and Mariculturist Association – MAPEC, Sao Paulo, Brazil Correspondence: L C Bernadochi, Aquaculture Center, Fisheries Institute – APTA – SAA – SP, PO Box 61070, Sao Paulo, SP 05001-970, Brazil. E-mail: ligiabernadochi@gmail.com Abstract In Southeastern Brazil, there is good cultivation potential for the pearl oyster Pinctada imbricata, which is often found on mussel ropes or seed col- lectors across the north coast of Sao Paulo State. Despite this, very few studies have focused on the biology of this species in Brazil. This research aimed to partially address this lack of information by evaluating the optimal season and preferred depth range (surface, first and second metres of depth) for the settlement of juvenile P. imbricata on artificial collectors. Two replicate artificial col- lectors made from braided fishing nets and com- prising of horizontally and vertically suspended lines were deployed at Cocanha Beach, Brazil, and left in situ for a period of 5 months. At the end of the deployment period, the density of juveniles was significantly greater on the surface than the first and second metres of depth. It was also found that the period from November to March was more favourable for the placement of collectors and settlement of juveniles. Furthermore the results of the study confirm that is feasible to cap- ture juvenile P. imbricata using artificial collectors to provide a continuous supply of commercial cul- tures. Keywords: mariculture, Pteriidae, seed collec- tors, seed uptake Introduction The Brazilian subtropical coastline provides favour- able environmental conditions for culturing mar- ine bivalves, however, only the brown mussel Perna perna, the oysters Crassostrea gigas and Cras- sostrea spp. and the scallop Nodipecten nodosus are currently cultivated on a commercial scale. Other species of bivalve could potentially be exploited commercially, a particular candidate being the Atlantic pearl oyster Pinctada imbricata (Roding 1798). This species is widely distributed along in the Atlantic west coast, from North Carolina (USA) to Brazil (Rios 2009) where it attaches to hard substrates such as rocks, corals and reefs in shallow coastal waters (Martinez, Mendes & Leite 2012). Southgate (2007) informs that P. imbricata is part of a taxonomically unresolved species complex, encompassing P. fucata, P. imbricata, P. martensii and P. radiata, that presents wide dis- tribution, from the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea and Indian Ocean, including the Persian Gulf, into the Pacific Ocean and throughout Southeast Asia and Northern Australia, as well as Atlantic West Coast and Caribbean Sea. Pinctada imbricata is considered a highly desir- able species for aquaculture in almost all regions where it occurs. O’Connor and Lawler (2004) inform that pearl oysters form the basis of the Australia’s most valuable aquaculture industry and that there is an increasing interest in P. imbri- cata production in the recent years. This species, among others is used for the production of “Ak- oya” pearls in Japan (Southgate 2007) and China (O’Connor & Lawler 2005; Wang, Shi, Wang & Gu 2007) for decades and recently other countries as India and Vietnam also has established Akoya pearls industries (Southgate 2007). Lodeiros, Pico, Prieta, Narvaez and Guerra (2002) report that P. imbricata has socioeconomic importance in © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd 1 Aquaculture Research, 2014, 1–9 doi: 10.1111/are.12503