Production and sinking rates for bio‐deposits of abalone (Haliotis discus hannai Ino)

Particle size distribution, organic content and the sinking velocity of bio‐deposits of abalone Haliotis discus hannai Ino were evaluated. The abalone was divided into three size classes according to shell length: Group B: 68.8 ± 2.8 mm, group M: 56.1 ± 2.3 mm and group S: 42.4 ± 2.8 mm. The faecal pellets had an amorphous shape, with a cross‐sectional area ranging from 0.01 to 2.64 mm². The mean cross‐sectional area varied among the size classes: 0.59 (B), 0.21 (M) and 0.12 (S) mm². The bio‐deposit organic content was similar among the groups (B: 18.3 ± 1.1%; M: 19.9 ± 0.9%; S: 19.3 ± 1.0%). Sinking velocity ranged from 0.5 to 2.3 cm s^?1. Larger abalone tended to have larger and thus faster‐sinking faecal pellets. The median sinking velocity for groups B, M and S was 0.9, 0.5 and 0.7 cm s^?1 respectively. The mean daily production rates for groups S, M and B were 2.8 ± 1.2, 3.4 ± 1.3 and 4.3 ± 1.8 g ind.^?1 respectively. Bio‐deposit production rate estimated to be between 134.4 and 206.4 mg m^?2 day^?1 in the bay. Our results suggest that the pellet size was within the appropriate size range for filter‐feeding bivalves.