A PRELIMINARY STUDY ON THE FOOD OF THE LARVAE OF GREEN MUSSEL, MYTILUS VIRIDIS

The larvae of green mussel Mytilus viridis was able to ingest micro-organismsfrom sea water after 48 hours from fertilization. The larvae might survive and keepswimming for several days even lack of food. The experiment shows that the growth and the survival rates of the larvae havedistinctions by feeding on different foods. The young larvae of green mussel were unable to digest Chlorella sp. and they diedat 6-7 days after fertilization. Platymonas sp. is rather large in sise, young larvae also could not ingest it andalways cause mortality. The larvae of straight-hinged stage can ingest and utilize marine yeast. The larvae grew rapidly and the survival rate is very high. The concentration of yeast is0.9-1.7mg/L. When the larvae developed to early stage of umbo, the yeast alone it was insuffici-ent to meet the nutritional requirement for growth and development, and they canutilize Platymonas sp. as food. The most effective way is to feed them with mixture ofPlatymonas sp. and yeast.