Molluscan ResearchISSN 1323-5818
 An international journal of the Malacological Society of Australasia and 
the Society for the Study of Molluscan Diversity published by Magnolia Press

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Molluscan Research 31(3): 183-188; published 30 Nov. 2011
Copyright © The Malacological Society of Australasia & the Society for the Study of Molluscan Diversity

Growth, population dynamics and morphometrics of Pinna bicolor (Gmelin, 1791) in Lake Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia

JAMES R. BURNS1 & STEPHEN D. A. SMITH2

1 School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale, NSW 2351.

2 National Marine Science Centre, Southern Cross University, PO Box 4321, Coffs Harbour, NSW 2450

Corresponding author—Email: jamieburns@aapt.net.au

Abstract

Anecdotal reports suggest that populations of razor clams, Pinna bicolor, have increased substantially in Lake Macquarie, New South Wales over the last 5-10 years. This has raised concerns about the ecology of the Lake and human safety. As a first step to providing information to inform management, between August 2009 and August 2010, we examined growth, population density, recruitment and the morphometrics of marked razor clams in a permanently marked grid in the southern reaches of the Lake. Growth increments of 61 P. bicolor were used to construct a Ford-Walford plot, from which von Bertalanffy growth parameters were calculated (K = 0.409 and L (dorso-ventral measurement) = 235.192 mm). During the study period 24 P. bicolor recruited to the grid, increasing the population density from 0.15 m-2 to 0.20 m-2. Recruits ranged in size (antero-posterior measurement) from 177–241 mm, with a mean (± SE) of 215.4 ± 4.1 mm. Morphological variation was observed and was evident within the linear regression of shell length on shell height (r2 = 0.631). These observations confirmed that growth, density and recruitment, as well as the degree of morphological variation within a population of P. bicolor in the warm temperate waters of New South Wales, is similar to that recorded for populations in South Australia and Western Australia.

Additional key words: bivalve, razor clam, Bivalvia, Pinnidae, von Bertalanffy, ecology

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