Two species of mussels occur in India, the green mussel, Perna viridis and the brown mussel, Perna indic

Kuriakose, P S

CMFRI Digital Repository

• i . • • REFERENCE 0 Nly SUI-IMER INSTITUTE IN \ CULTTIRE OF rnIBLE MOLLUSCS HELD AT TurrCCRIN RESEARCH CENTRE OF CENTP.AL l-I.ARINE FISHERIES RESEARCH INsrITUTE trom 26 May to 24 June 1980 ,. , . ~ Centr a l ~!arinc Fis her ies Research Institut e P .B . 1912, COGHill - 682018 , I NDIA " Indian Council of Agri cult1Z'al Resoarch September' , 1980 \.If \ .. 1 , \ , r.'ISIm1" AND BIOLOGY OF MUSSELS - -:;: p .s . KUItIAKOOE '" Two species of mussels .occur in In::Iin, the green mussal, ~ viridi s and the ' brown mussel, ~ in:l.ica. The green r;ussel fisher y is ilIlpcrtant in Malabar coast. This mussel l ocn.ll y known as "Kallummalkai" (Rock fruit) cr "Ka.dukkai" is eat en by the poor er section of t he population. Since last "two- decades it has become a preferr ed delicacy evenl'lllong the upper class pOOple" Recently s ome f a.ctories are engaged "in canning and :freezing mussal meat for internal and export lIV:lI'ket . FISHERY The ilIlpartant muss el fishing centr as in tho Me] abar ar ea are Ka.sara god, Cannancre~ " Ibarmadom, Tmlai, lli.ha, ChO!Ilbala, Badagara, --Thikkodi, CadaloCl', Kellam, Moadadi, Kappad, Elathur, Puthiappa, CaJ.iCut, Chalitml and Beypore. In these areas t here are e:ktensivc mussel beds extending ill an area of 2 to 3 kilometres :from c cast • About 800 people are regularly engaged in the fishery frOm Canrumare to Beypcre . When t he beds are expos ed dU':ing low t ide \,'Omen and children collect large numbers of muss els by hand . The ilIlpcrtant fishing method is collection of mussals by diving. Two_ or three divers go in a canoe to the submCll'gcd r ecks away from tho shere and dive to Obllectthe muss els from the rocks . Thesa mussels ar e sterad in a coir net bag tied t o their waist. lli.ving goes on till sufficient qU£lIltity is collected . Often a single person goes fer th:1s type of fishing on a float:ing log l ocally known a s "Mutti". He suspems a big cair bag called "Mal" from t he mutti fer etering his collection . The method of collection is the same as above . When the bag tied to the mutti gets filled up, he comes asher e, unloads his catch and goes again fer fishing on tho same day depending on tho =ket danand. The ilIlpcrtant facter in tho muss el fishery is -tlnt the mussels are sold in live condition . The catch is sold to the morchants in the , landing place itself , Formerly the mussels were r eaching the llBI'ket am consumers by head load ally but recently trucks are engagoo fer , transporting to internal markets also , Mus'sel meat alone neatly packed in plastic bags is avail able in tm market . No reliable statis-tics are avnilable regarding the mussel production in India. <h a r ough estimate the annuru. mussel production my amount to 15,00 tormes . BIOLOGY !QQ£: Microscopic algae and diatoms conSitu~ the food of mussels. large quantities of detritus also ferm the food of muss els. Growth: Spat settlement along the Indian ' coasts takes place during the months of August, September and October. Thick carpet l:ilre growth of young mussels can be seen all over the inter tidal and submergoo r ocks dlring this period . It takes twelve months to attain the harvestablc size in natural beds. Doo to overcrowding of mussel &, population the growth is comparatively slow. Moreover som of the boos are subj ected to tidal Q)cposure and constant sur f action, This is also a limiting fact er . It is obs erved that early, ~owth is r apid . During t he fir st year the mussel attains a 1 919th of 71 DIID anQ. i n the next 6 months it grows to 97 DIID . The mussel attains a l ength of 110 mm i n 2 years . . . Spawning: Tho s exes are separat e . The gonad m turity commences in fuy and fully ripe condition' is r oocmd du-ing June . Along the " Indian coasts mussel s spawn from July t o October with a peak spawning period in August and September . Thc f emale are known to release up to 10 million eggs "in a single spawning . The males simultane-ously release t heir spawn and ,fertili zntioll t akes place in sea water . After fertilizati on the developmental. stages are extrEIDa1.y r apid . The trochophore stage is r eached in about 12 to 14 hours and and the I D' shaped larva or tm early straight hinge larval stage is r eachoo within three days , the hinged veliger stage on the 7th day while the l ate veliger is reached on the 10 th day of developmmt. The larva pr efer s r ough sur face to smooth ones for settlEllOant. 

Fishery and biology of mussels

http://eprints.cmfri.org.in/7621/1/629-6_kuriakose.pdf

Fishery and biology of mussels

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

CMFRI Digital Repository