Several species of turbellarians have been reported associated with commercially important marine bivalves. Among these, several belonging to the genera Stylochus and Pseudostylochus are known to feed on oysters. During the autumn of 1968, Stylochus ijimai, a predaceous turbellarian, outbreaks in offshore oyster culture grounds in the vicinity of Hiroshima Bay (Text-fig. 1) and caused widespread damage to cultured oyster crops in this area (Text-figs. 2-4). The oyster mortality from predation of this turbellarian is estimated between 40 and 85 per cent (Table 1). It is likely that the outbreak of this turbellarian is correlated closely with anomalies of meteorological and hydrographical phenomena of this district in that year of 1968 : scanty rainfall, high salinity of sea water etc. (Text-figs. 7-9).
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