Morphometric relationship of weight and size of cultured freshwater pearl mussel, Hyriopsis (Limnoscapha) myersiana, under laboratory conditions and earthen pond phases

The freshwater pearl mussel, Hyriopsis (Limnoscapha) myersiana (Lea, 1856), was cultured in the laboratory (0–120 days old), in an earthen pond in acrylic containers (120–270 days old) and in pocket nets with frames (270–360 days old). Measurements were taken of the length–height and the total body weight–size (shell length, shell height and shell width). It was found that the length–height in each period of culture showed a linear relationship and that the shell height increased as the shell length increased, along with the same linear relationship. When statistical analyses were performed, this linear regression line consisted of three distinct lines (P < 0.01). The general morphometric relationships between the length and height of mussels grown in the laboratory, in acrylic containers and in pocket nets were Log H = −0.147 + 0.828Log L, Log H = −0.211 + 0.909Log L and Log H = −0.264 + 0.951Log L, respectively. The relationship between the total body weight–size in different culture phases was a positive allometric equation and the two curved lines were not the same (P < 0.01). The general morphometric relationships between the length and the total body weight of the mussels cultured in acrylic containers and pocket nets were Log W = −3.747 + 2.674Log L and Log W = −4.149 + 2.976Log L, respectively. Such measurements are useful in the management of different culture phases of H. (L.) myersiana.