Inter-Research > AEI > v16 > p133-144  
AEI
Aquaculture Environment Interactions
via Mailchimp

AEI 16:133-144 (2024)  -  DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/aei00477

Filtration rate and bioremediatory potential of the tropical blacklip rock oyster Saccostrea lineage J

Benjamin Rennie1,2, Samantha J. Nowland3,4,5, Ira R. Cooke6,7, Jan M. Strugnell1,2,*

1Centre for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries and Aquaculture, James Cook University, Townsville, Qld 4811, Australia
2College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, Qld 4811, Australia
3Aquaculture Unit, Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade, Northern Territory Government, Darwin, NT 0801, Australia
4Australian Centre for Pacific Islands Research, University of the Sunshine Coast, 90 Sippy Downs Drive, Sippy Downs, Qld 4556, Australia
5Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT 0810, Australia
6College of Public Health, Medical and Vet Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, Qld 4811, Australia
7Centre for Tropical Bioinformatics and Molecular Biology, James Cook University, Townsville, Qld 4811, Australia
*Corresponding author:

ABSTRACT: The tropical blacklip rock oyster Saccostrea lineage J is an emerging aquaculture species displaying fast growth rates, large sizes and resilience to fluctuations in temperature and salinity, all characteristics that suggest it would be well-suited to bioremediatory applications. To investigate their bioremediatory potential, the present study aimed to (1) determine the influence of temperature (20, 24, 28, 32°C) on the filtration rate of Saccostrea lineage J and (2) describe and quantify uptake in total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), total suspended solids (TSS) and chlorophyll a (chl a), using prawn pond effluent and 2 levels of oyster stocking density. The results demonstrated that higher water temperatures promote a faster filtration rate and identified an optimal performance range of 24 to 32°C for a filtration rate of 12.68 to 15.20 l h-1 g-1. In addition, the highest density (0.66 oysters l-1) of stocked oysters resulted in significant reduction of all water quality parameters, with TN reduced by 13%, TP by 16%, TSS by 95% and chl a by 29% when compared to unstocked controls after 3 h. Tissue analysis of 10 oysters with a mean whole weight of 75.4 g revealed a mean of 0.09 g of nitrogen per oyster. Scaling these values suggests that 1.20 kg of nitrogen is removed per tonne of harvested oysters. This study is the first to investigate the bioremediatory potential of Saccostrea lineage J and demonstrates their potential to improve aquaculture wastewater treatment practices and bioremediation.


KEY WORDS: Bioremediation · Aquaculture · Wastewater · Reef credit · Nutrient credit trading · Nitrogen · Phosphorus · Total suspended solids


Full text in pdf format
Cite this article as: Rennie B, Nowland SJ, Cooke IR, Strugnell JM (2024) Filtration rate and bioremediatory potential of the tropical blacklip rock oyster Saccostrea lineage J. Aquacult Environ Interact 16:133-144. https://doi.org/10.3354/aei00477

Export citation
Share:    Facebook - - linkedIn

Cited by
Published in AEI Vol. 16. Online publication date: March 28, 2024
Print ISSN: 1869-215X; Online ISSN: 1869-7534
Copyright © 2024 Inter-Research.
 Previous article Next article