Dietary preferences, growth and condition of triploid and diploid Pacific oysters, Crassostrea gigas (Thunberg), in Little Swanport Estuary, Tasmania, Australia

Research on triploid Pacific oysters, Crassostrea gigas (Thunberg), has predominantly compared diploid and triploid oysters in relation to growing conditions, disease resistance and allocation of energy resources. Triploid Pacific oysters show a 31–81% increase in growth over diploids, a difference more pronounced in good growing areas. Yet, relatively little is known about the importance of diet in explaining the greater growth of triploids.

The aims for this study were twofold: to compare the composition of diploid and triploid stomach samples to food availability in the water column; and to measure the growth and condition of these oysters at two sites, in the upper and lower estuary.