Abstract
Cape Cod Oyster company is one of the largest growers and distributers of Eastern Oysters (Crassostrea virginica) in Massachusetts. The company grew both diploid and triploid oysters in their nursery locations. The company owns three farm sites and two of which will be the focal points of this study, one being an off-bottom site and floating cage site. There are a lot of factors that go into understanding oyster nursery production such as temperature, salinity, nursery system, and oyster genetics. One of the biggest contributing factors to growth rate is genetics such as if an oyster is a diploid (2N) or triploid (3N) oyster. Diploid oysters are fertile and divert energy to reproduction, resulting in slower growth, while triploid oysters have an extra set of chromosomes and are nearly sterile, allowing for faster growth and superior year-round meat quality for aquaculture. The purpose of this study is to measure the difference in growth rate between diploid and triploid oyster seed at two different types of nursery locations: off- bottom and on-bottom nurseries. I will measure the growth rate through measuring the shell length with a digital caliper and the weight using a portable scale once every three weeks. I will then analyze the data from this study, including statistical comparisons of treatment groups, to find the percentage increase in shell height and weight to then determine the growth rate over time for both groups. This study is important to understand if there is a growth rate difference between the diploid and triploid seeds at these two sites to then work towards understanding why there is a difference in growth rate.