Animal Sciences Commons^™

Settlement And Survival Of The Oyster Crassostrea Virginica On Created Oyster Reef Habitats In Chesapeake Bay, Janet A. Nestlerode, Mark W. Luckenbach, Robert J. Diaz

Reports

Efforts to restore Crassostrea virginica oyster reef habitats in Chesapeake Bay typically begin with the placement of hard substrata, such as oyster shell, in the form ofthreedimensional mounds on the seabed to serve as a base for oyster recruitment and growth. A shortage of sufficient volumes of oyster shell for creating large-scale reefs has led to widespread use of other materials, such as surf clam (Spisula solidissima) shell, as a substitute for oyster shell. We monitored oyster recruitment, survival, and growth on intertidal and subtidal reefs constructed shucked oyster and surf clam shell. Results indicate that oyster settlement occurred on …