The South African abalone, Haliotis midae L., is an important mariculture species. In the natural environment, abalone move and migrate to new sites to escape from disturbances. This is the first study that tested the effect of disturbances on movement and feeding activity of farmed abalone for 6 days post-disturbance. Disturbances were (a) turning over the feeder plate, (b) moving and shaking the feeder plate and (c) briefly lifting the basket containing the abalone out of the water. Abalone in the control treatment were not subjected to disturbance. Activity levels of abalone were elevated in the first 1-2 nights post-disturbance with 2-3 times more abalone appearing on the walls of the baskets and larger numbers on the feeder plate than in the control treatment. Feed uptake was not influenced by treatment. Thus, even minor disturbances resulted in increased activity. As it takes at least 1 year to conduct growth experiments in this slow-growing mollusc, the results provide a motivation for studies of growth and metabolic rate in this species under a range of husbandry conditions, such as regular handling, sorting and moving of abalone.
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