Abstract

The age and growth of the soft-shell clam, Mya arenaria, were investigated based on specimens collected from the coastal waters of Namhae-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do, Korea. In the relative growth equations of shell height, shell width, and total weight against shell length, the coefficients of determination (R2) ranged from 0.8462 to 0.9276, indicating high correlations. The mean shell lengths at ring diameter were SL1.83 = 31.95 mm, SL2.83 = 42.00 mm, SL3.83 = 49.51 mm, SL4.83 = 57.06 mm, SL5.83 = 65.91 mm, SL6.83 = 75.90 mm , SL7.83 = 83.79 and SL8.83 = 90.64 mm. The corresponding mean total weights were TW1.83 = 51.50 g, TW2.83 = 66.14 g, TW3.83 = 76.88 g, TW4.83 = 87.54 g, TW5.83 = 99.90 g, TW6.83 = 113.67 g, TW7.83 = 124.43 g and TW8.83 = 133.70 g, respectively. Parameters estimated from the von Bertalanffy growth model were 173.36 mm for the asymptotic shell length (SL∞), 0.0289 year-1 for the growth coefficient (k), and –0.889 year-1 for the t0. The growth equations were expressed as SLt=173.36(1-e-0.0289(t+0.0889)) and TWt=295.87(1-e-0.0289(t+0.0889))2.9303.