Temperature and size range for the transport of juvenile donkey's ear abalone Haliotis asinina Linne

Abstract

Live transport of hatchery-produced juvenile donkey's ear abalone Haliotis asinina Linne was examined to evaluate the effect of transportation on the survival of juvenile abalone. Simulated transport experiments were conducted to determine the appropriate temperature using 5, 10 and 20gL -1 of ice to air volume for 8h and the appropriate size using two size groups (Size A, 15-20mm, 0.5-1.3g, and Size B, 30-35mm, 5.3-8.5g) up to 24-h out-of-water live transport. Survival was significantly higher (P<0.001) when 10gL -1 of ice was used to decrease the temperature to the range of 17-23°C. At this temperature, both size groups subjected to simulated transport for 8 and 10h had 100% survival after 48h, while mortality occurred in abalones subjected to 16 and 24h of simulated transport. The Size B abalone subjected to 24h of transport had significantly higher survival (64.4 ± 2.9%) (P<0.001) than the Size A abalone (5.5 ± 1.6%) after 48h. Live juvenile abalone were successfully transported to the field applying the protocols developed in the lab experiment. This study serves as a guide for handling and shipping live juvenile abalone. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.