Abstract

NAVARRETE, Alberto de Jesús. Crecimiento del caracol Strombus gigas (Gastropoda:  Strombidae) en cuatro ambientes de Quintana Roo, México. Rev. biol. trop [online]. 2001, vol.49, n.1, pp.85-91. ISSN 0034-7744.

The growth rate of queen conch cultured in pens was studied from October 1993 to March 1994. Sixteen pens (50 m² each, four  pens per environment), were set in four environments:  Thalassia, Thalassia-sand, Sand and Coral within  a reef lagoon on Punta Gavilan and Banco Chinchorro. Twenty conchs were introduced in each pen (sizes:  100-120,  120-140, 140-160 and 160-180 mm shell length) and measured monthly to the nearest mm. Growth rate was assessed by two methods:  a) shell marginal mean increase and b) the Gulland-Holt method considering all conch within pens. In the first method, the environment Sand had the highest growth (3.21 + 0.26 mm/month) at Punta Gavilan, whereas at Banco Chinchorro, highest growth was recorded in Coral (2.31 + 0.44 mm/month). Considering the second method, highest asymptotic length conch in Punta Gavilan occurred in Thalassia-sand (287.5 mm), whereas in Banco Chinchorro the highest asymptotic length was measured in Sand (318.1 mm). There were significant differences in growth between sites; juvenile growth is related with habitat quality mainly food availability.

Keywords : Caribbean; semi-culture; Gastropoda; Strombus gigas; Quintana Roo.