Experimental feeding of Sydney rock oysters (Saccostrea commercialis). III. Food concentration and fattening procedures

Sydney rock oysters (Saccostrea commercialis) were fed an artificial diet at 0, 3, 6, 9, 12 and 15 mg dry food/l. At 9 mg/l oyster glycogen content, condition indices and meat weight gains were maximised without increasing mortality rates. In a comparison of fattening procedures, oysters held in a fertilised pond and those fed a second artificial diet fattened in 4 and 6 weeks respectively, whereas those held in an estuary did not fatten at all. The artificial diet produced higher oyster meat glycogen contents than the fertilised pond and estuary treatments.