Age and growth of purpulish Washington clam (Saxidomus purpuratus) was investigated from 480 samples monthly collected from January to December 2002 in Jinhae Bay, Korea. Examination of outer margins of the shell revealed that the translucent zone was...
Age and growth of purpulish Washington clam (Saxidomus purpuratus) was investigated from 480 samples monthly collected from January to December 2002 in Jinhae Bay, Korea. Examination of outer margins of the shell revealed that the translucent zone was formed once a year from March to April, it can be used as annulus. Ages were determined from ring radius of shell, and maximum age of the the clam was 9 years. The spawning period was from May to October, and the main spawning occurred in July. The relationship between shell length (SL) and shell height (SH) was $SH=0.8405{\times}SL^{-4.9709}\;(R^2=0.97)$ and that between the shell length (SL) and total weight (TW) was $TW=0.9580{\times}10-4{\times}SL^{3.220}(R^2=0.97).$ The von Bertalanffy growth equation were $SL_t=125.57(1-e^{-0.2523(t+0.5367)},\;TW_t=549.26(1-e^{-0.2523(t+0.5367)})^{3.220}.$