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Sydney rock oysters were sampled from a mass selection experiment for growth (the "selected" category) and from a control ("not selected") population and held in the laboratory at three ration levels. We evaluated three models to explain faster rates of growth by selected oysters. Selection resulted in oysters feeding at up to twice the rate and with greater metabolic efficiency than controls. A field experiment confirmed that selection leads to faster rates of feeding across a wide range of food concentrations. Selected oysters also grew more efficiently, at a smaller cost of growth (Cg): mean values for Cg were 0.43 J x J(-1) in selected individuals and 0.81 J x J(-1) in the controls. In contrast, oysters in both categories showed similar metabolic rates at maintenance, i.e., at a ration supporting zero growth. There was no evidence that differential energy allocation affected the balance between total metabolic requirements above and below zero net energy balance. By experimenting with selected and control oysters of different sizes and ages, then standardizing the data for size, we found no effects of age on the differences due to selection. Faster-growing oysters feed more rapidly; invest more energy per joule ingested; show a higher net growth efficiency; and are able to allocate less energy per unit of tissue growth, than slower-growing individuals.

A breeding program for Sydney rock oysters Saccostrea glomerata (Gould, 1850) has been selecting oysters for resistance to QX disease (Marteilia sydneyi) and winter mortality (Bonamia roughleyi) for three generations at three sites in Georges River, New SouthWales, Australia. The experimental sites are located at the upper, middle and lower reaches of oyster growing areas in the estuary. QX disease mainly occurs in the middle and upper reaches and is most severe at the latter.Winter mortality on the other hand occurs mainly at the lower and middle reaches and is most severe at the former. Progeny of third-generation Sydney rock oyster breeding lines were evaluated for resistance to both QX disease and winter mortality against a non-selected control. Line 1, selected for QX disease resistance at the upper estuary site, had excellent resistance to one season of exposure to disease, but su¡ered high mortality during the second season of exposure. However, these oysters had already reached market size of 50 g whole weight, with low mortality at 2 years of age, before the second episode of QX disease. Line 2 showed good improvement in resistance to both diseases, whereas Line 3, was the most resistant to winter mortality. Selection for resistance to QX disease did not appear to confer resistance to winter mortality and the converse also applied.

In 1990, NSW Fisheries initiated a mass selection programme in Port Stephens, NSW, with the aim of breeding faster growing Sydney rock oysters Saccostrea glomerata (Gould 1850). After two generations of selection, an average weight for age advantage of 18% (range 14±23% per breeding line) was achieved. This equates to a reduction of 3 months in the time taken to reach market size. Experiments are planned to determine how much of this 3 months advantage is additive to the 6 months advantage this laboratory has already obtained using triploid S. glomerata. A parallel set of S. glomerata breeding lines was established on the Georges River, NSW, to include selection for resistance to the protistan parasite Mikrocytos roughleyi, the causal agent of winter mortality. The programme was disrupted by the outbreak of QX disease Marteilia sydneyi, another protistan parasite, in 1994. In 1997, the breeding programme was reorganized and expanded. New lines were bred from oysters that had survived both QX and winter mortality. After one generation, a small improvement in resistance to QX has been recorded; however, the exposure of further generations to M. sydneyi will be required to con®rm an increase in resistance.

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In a 2‐year grow‐out trial, triploid Sydney rock oysters, Saccostrea commercialis (Iredale & Roughley), from two initial size grades grew faster (in terms of both mean whole weight and shell height) than the equivalent initial size grades of sibling diploids (P < 0.05). Small size grade triploids caught up with and had significantly heavier (P < 0.05) final whole weights than large size grade diploids after a 2‐years grow‐out period. The initial size grade had a significant effect on final mean whole weight and shell height for both ploidy types. After the 2‐years grow‐out trial, the final mean whole weights (but not shell heights) of small and large diploids (35.8 ± 0.6 g and 39.4 ± 0.5 g, respectively) were significantly different (P < 0.05). Small and large triploids grew at a similar rate for the first 18 months despite the significantly (P < 0.05) heavier final mean weight of large grade triploids (48.4 ± 0.8 g and 61.2 ± 0.7 g, respectively). The effect of the initial size grade on subsequent growth of both diploid and triploid oysters which was demonstrated in the present study is of significant commercial value to hatchery and nursery operators as well as growers of single seed oysters. In addition, small‐grade triploids appeared to be more valuable in terms of potential growth rate than all diploid grades. There was no significant difference in the final percentage triploidy between small and large grade triploids. A large proportion of diploid/triploid mosaicism was detected in adult oysters.

The Sydney rock oyster breeding programme began in 1990 and initially focused on faster growth and resistance to winter mortality disease (WM, Bonamia roughleyi) before including QX disease (QX, Marteilia sydneyi) resistance in 1997. Four generations of oysters have now been exposed to these diseases at three sites in the Georges River, NSW, Australia (Lime Kiln Bar, LKB; Woolooware Bay, WB; and, Quibray Bay, QB). Non-selected control oysters and lines developed at each site (Line 1 -LKB, Line 2 -WB, Line 3 -QB) were placed at the three sites alongside a new QX-resistant line (Line 4) bred from QX survivors in other NSW estuaries. Line 1 oysters grew to a marketable size (>50 g) in two years with minimal losses following QX disease outbreaks: 28% mortality compared with 97% in controls. Losses in Line 3 oysters selected for WM resistance at QB were reduced by more than half (23% versus 52%). Line 2 performed best at WB, but this line showed excellent resistance to QX at LKB and WM at QB, indicating that breeding for resistance to both diseases is effective. However, selection of oysters for QX did not confer resistance to WM and vice versa.