Abstract
One of the maintenance objectives of artificial tidal flats is the management and maintenance of habitats for Ruditapes philippinalum. Oshima artificial tidal flat was covered with net as preventive measures against feeding damage for Ruditapes philippinalum. However, the feeding damage due to Glossaulux didyma which is a kind of the conch continues.
Hence, in this study, we performed a series of experiments to investigate the effect of geoenvironment on the feeding action of the conch with a water tank. The purpose of this study was to clarify a method to prevent the feeding damage due to Glossaulux diyima, with due consideration of the geoenvironmental dynamics. As a result of the experiments, it was revealed that covering the gravel of 10mm - 20 mm in diameter on sand was effective as a prevention method of the feeding damage of Glossaulux dydima. Furthermore, it was found to be important to keep the gravel layer thickness at 100 mm or more to maximize the benefit. The next step of this study is to conduct demonstration experiments to verify the effectiveness of this method in the field. We believe that the proposed method will be an effective measures to prevent the feeding damage due to Glossaulux didyma and thereby facilitate the rational maintenance and management of the nursery habitats for Ruditapes philippinarum.
