Abstract

LOPEZ-SANCHEZ, Clara Marcela  and  MANCERA-PINEDA, José Ernesto. Structural Parameters of Two Populations of Crassostrea rhizophorae (Ostreidae) in Bahía Cispatá, Colombian Caribbean. Acta biol.Colomb. [online]. 2019, vol.24, n.2, pp.361-371. ISSN 0120-548X.  https://doi.org/10.15446/abc.v24n2.68941.

The mangrove oyster is a species of great ecological and commercial importance in many places in the Caribbean. In Bahía de Cispatá, Colombia, the oyster represents the economic support of an important group of fishermen lacks management plans for the extraction regulation. The objective of the present study was to establish the population structure of Crassostrea rhizophorae in Bahía Cispatá, as a basic input for the future formulation of management plans. Due to the morphological differences observed among the individuals of the sampled sites, sequences of the COI gene were obtained, concluding that all individuals correspond to the species Crassostrea rhizophorae. Based on the morphological differences, two populations were differentiated, which did not show coexistence in the same sampling station. Through the FiSAT program, the main population parameters were evaluated, finding that individuals of the population with thin shells grow at a faster rate, reaching greater sizes than individuals from the population of more robust and strong shells. However, individuals with thin shells also had higher mortality rates. For both populations, the food supply was very low, which may have influenced the low population density found during 2015. It is important to highlight the importance of this resource in the area and the advantage presented by the more robust oyster's specimens for fishermen since is that it allows them to have it to be stored for longer than the thin shell oyster.

Keywords : Bivalvia; coastal ecosystems; coastal lagoons; environmental value; Mollusca; swamp.

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