The Dynamic Energy Budget (DEB) model (Kooijman, S.A.L.M., 1986. Energy budgets can explain body size relations. pp.) has been adapted to describe the dynamics of growth and reproduction of the Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas) reared in different areas under conditions ranging from controlled to natural. The values of the model parameters were estimated from available physiological data and from published information. The sets of data used to validate the model came from three long-term growth experiments (> 5 months) performed on Pacific oysters reared under different conditions of food and environment. The forcing variables were temperature and phytoplankton densities, the latter being assessed from in vivo fluorescence and chlorophyll-a concentration measurement. The successful validation of the model on the three data sets demonstrated its ability to capture the dynamics of the energy budget in the Pacific oyster in various environments with the same set of parameters. The only parameter that varied between simulations was the half-saturation coefficient (XK), because of a different diet composition between the three environments under test. The model successfully reproduced quantitatively the growth and reproduction and the timing of spawning. These first simulation data led us to propose several promising perspectives of application for this model in shellfish ecosystems.

A bio-energetic model, based on the DEB theory exists for the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas. Pouvreau et al. [Pouvreau, S., Bourles, Y., Lefebvre, S., Gangnery, A., Alunno-Bruscia, M., 2006. Application of a dynamic energy budget model to the Pacific oyster, C. gigas, reared under various environmental conditions. J. Sea Res. 56,[156][157][158][159][160][161][162][163][164][165][166][167] successfully applied this model to oysters reared in three environments with no tide and low turbidity, using chlorophyll a concentration as food quantifier. However, the robustness of the oyster-DEB model needs to be validated in varying environments where different food quantifiers reflect the food available for oysters, as is the case in estuaries and most coastal ecosystems. We therefore tested the oyster-DEB model on C. gigas reared in an Atlantic coastal pond from January 2006 to January 2007. The model relies on two forcing variables: seawater temperature and food density monitored through various food quantifiers. Based on the high temperature range measured in this oyster pond (3-30 °C), new boundary values of the temperature tolerance range were estimated both for ingestion and respiration rates. Several food quantifiers were then tested to select the most suitable for explaining the observed growth and reproduction of C. gigas reared in an oyster pond. These were: particulate organic matter and carbon, chlorophyll a concentration and phytoplankton enumeration (expressed in cell number per litre or in cumulative cell biovolume). We conclude that when phytoplankton enumeration was used as food quantifier, the new version of oyster-DEB model presented here reproduced the growth and reproduction of C. gigas very accurately. The next step will be to validate the model under contrasting coastal environmental conditions so as to confirm the accuracy of phytoplankton enumeration as a way of representing the available food that sustains oyster growth.Please note that this is an author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication following peer review. The definitive publisher-authenticated version is available on the publisher Web site 1983). Dynamic energy budget (DEB) models are a different type of energetic model that describes the rates at which organisms assimilate and utilise energy for maintenance, growth and reproduction. DEB modelling has also been applied to various bivalves (e.g. [Van Haren and Kooijman, 1993], [Ren and Ross, 2005], [Cardoso et al., 2006] and [Pouvreau et al., 2006]). The DEB theory is based on physical and chemical assumptions for individual energetics ([Kooijman, 1986] and [Kooijman, 2000]), whereas the energetics in SFG models are empirically-based using allometric relationships ([Lika and Nisbet, 2000], [Nisbet et al., 2000] and [Van der Meer, 2006]). DEB theory has recently been more specifically applied to the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas (e.g. Van der Veer and Alunno-Bruscia, 2006 H.W. Van der Veer and M. Alunno-Bruscia, The DEBIB project: dynamic energy budgets in bivalves, J. ...

Many studies based on bioenergetics growth models have investigated the effects of environmental factors on oyster (Crassostrea gigas) growth and physiology. However, most of these models are site-specific and cannot be app lied to other culture sites without the re-estimation of parameters or re-formulation of some processes. We aimed to develop a gen eric growth model suitable for application in contrasting environments, with a constant set of parameters. We tested the oyster-DEB model (Bourlès et al. 2009) for the stimulation of C. gigas growth in different cohorts (spats and adults) at major shellfish culture sites in