Abstract

The effect of different concentrations of phytoplankton as food for different groups of Chilean blue mussel, Mytilus chilensis, larvae in terms of the increase in shell length over a 20-day period were studied. Three concentrations (6,250, 25,000 and 100,000 cell/mL) of microalgae (Isochrysis aff. galbana) were fed to twelve half-sib families. A significant variation in shell size was observed among the treatments within families (P < 0.05), as was observed between similar treatments among families within males (P < 0.05). Mussel larvae fed I. off. galbana exhibit a marked decrease in mortalities when fed increased concentrations of the phytoplankton. These data suggest that the use of I. aff. galbana at sufficient densities (> 25,000 cell/mL) to overcome mortality can benefit the growth of Chilean blue mussel larvae.