The Influence of Substrate to Larval Settlement of the Tropical Abalone (Haliotis asinina)

Abstract

Larval settlement stage of abalone (Haliotis asinine) depends on availability of feed and substrate compatibility. Existing feed size and feed type diversity in substrate will affect larval settlement stage, feeding habit and survival rate of abalone larvae. This study aims to find out the most suitable substrate for larval settlement of the tropical abalone. It is conducted in February-April, 2013 at Brackish Water Aquaculture Center, Takalar Regency, South Sulawesi. Applied experimental design is Completely Randomized Design. There are 3 types of test substrate: coral, cement and plastic with 3 replications for each substrate. This study shows that statistically, substrate differences do not affect to larval settlement stage. The highest stage of larval settlement is to coral substrate by 3.3%, followed by cement and plastic by 2.2% and 0.2% respectively. The highest average stage of living larva on coral and cement substrate are 15.3%, while on plastic substrate is 8.7%.