The irregular supply of natural mussel seed for aquaculture has seen an increase in the establishment of hatcheries to produce a reliable source of mussel seed. While many of the factors influencing fertilisation and early survival of hatchery-produced mussel larvae have been explored, little is known about the factors influencing the success of larvae during settlement and development under hatchery conditions. This study examines the effects of feed concentration, airflow rate, rope type and larval stocking density on the growth, settlement and development of Australian blue mussel larvae under hatchery conditions. Manipulation of feeding concentration at the time of settlement (25,000 cell ml⁻¹, 50,000 cell ml⁻¹, 100,000 cell ml⁻¹ and no feed) had little effect on growth, settlement and development of larvae, due to reduced feeding behaviour during this period. In contrast, high airflow rates were found to increase settlement and larval development but did not influence growth. Larvae also show significantly greater settlement rates on more filamentous ropes compared with those on less filamentous rope types. We also detected a strong inverse relationship between larval density and size at settlement, suggesting density-dependent competition may reduce growth under hatchery conditions. These results indicate optimal conditions for settlement and development of mussel larvae in hatcheries may be achieved by decreasing feed concentration during the settlement phase, increasing airflow rates and maintaining moderate densities of larvae. These optimised hatchery conditions have the potential to improve yields while simultaneously reducing production costs.

用于水产养殖的天然贻贝种子的不规则供应导致孵化场的建立增加，以生产可靠的贻贝种子来源。虽然已经探讨了影响孵化场生产的贻贝幼体受精和早期存活的许多因素，但对孵化场条件下影响幼体在定居和发育过程中成功的因素知之甚少。本研究考察了饲料浓度、气流速率、绳索类型和幼体放养密度对孵化场条件下澳大利亚蓝贻贝幼体生长、沉降和发育的影响。沉降时的饲养浓度控制（25,000 cell ml ^-1 , 50,000 cell ml ^-1 , 100,000 cell ml ^-1和不喂食）对幼虫的生长、沉降和发育几乎没有影响，因为在此期间摄食行为减少。相比之下，发现高气流速率会增加沉降和幼虫发育，但不会影响生长。与在较少丝状绳索类型上的幼虫相比，在较多丝状绳索上的幼虫也表现出显着更高的沉降率。我们还检测到幼虫密度和定居时的大小之间存在强烈的反比关系，表明密度依赖性竞争可能会降低孵化场条件下的生长。这些结果表明孵化场中贻贝幼体的沉降和发育的最佳条件可以通过在沉降阶段降低饲料浓度、增加气流速度和保持中等密度的幼体来实现。