The recruitment of scallops (and beyond) by two different artificial collectors (Gulf of Taranto, Mediterranean Sea)

This study provides for the first time an evaluation of the natural availability of scallop seeds along the coastal area of Taranto (Mediterranean Sea, Southern Italy). To select the best artificial collectors to harvest scallop seeds in this area, cylindrical collectors (Cyl) were compared to traditional 'Japanese-style onion bags' (Bag) across three sites. Scallops represented 26.6% of total bivalve recruitment among all collectors (782 ± 331 ind. m-2). The most recruited scallops were Flexopecten glaber and Mimachlamys varia. The white (F. glaber) and black scallops (M. varia) were abundant at all three sites, while the queen scallop, Aequipecten opercularis, was only found at one site. …