Shell Growth Pattern and Percentage Flesh Yield of the West African Clam, Galatea paradoxa (Born, 1778) from Itu Creek, Niger Delta Nigeria

Shell Morphometry is a fundamental tool for the evaluation of phenotypic stocks. The shell growth pattern and percentage flesh yield of Galatea paradoxa from Itu Creek in Niger Delta were investigated using standard morphometric methods. The mean in centimeter (cm) of 9.71±0.09, 35.02±0.22, 23.21±0.12, 37.11±0.25, 29.31±0.16 and 7.32±0.04 were recorded for shell length, maximum width, maximum height, nacre length, nacre width and hinge length respectively. Mean live weight of 115.70±1.09 g, mean flesh weight of 37.91 ± 0.23g and mean shell weight of 66.82±0.97 g were recorded for this species. Galatea paradoxa showed negative allometric growth (b < 3) while the correlation coefficients (r) in all the shell variables were far below „1‟, indicating a week correlation between the parameters. About 19% of the live weight of the clam is made up of flesh by weight. Keywords: Bivalve, Clam, Shell dimension, Niger Delta