Effect of temperature on the development, growth, survival and settlement of green mussel Perna viridis

The e¡ect of temperature on the development, growth, survival and settlement of Perna viridis was studied under controlled conditions to provide infor-mation needed for the development of commercial hatchery technology for green mussel P. viridis. Total mortality of the larvae occurred after 24 h at tem-peratures of 33 1C and 35 1C. At 24 1C, larvae took longer to settle than at temperatures of 27 1C, 29 1C and 31 1C. For optimum larval development (8^13 h), growth (17.270.84 mmday^1) and survival (55.27 0.84%), a hatchery rearing temperature of 31 1C is required. For settlement no signi¢cant di¡erence was seen between the percentage settlement at 29 1C (49.373.34%) and 31 1C (45.871.76%). How-ever, the process of settlement began and ended ear-lier at 29 1C (from15 to18 days) thanat 31 1C (from18 to 20 days). Thus for larval settlement a temperature of 29 1C is recommended