Growth of the pointed venus, Anomalocardia brasiliana (Bivalvia: Veneridae) at Mangue Seco Beach, Pernambuco State, Brazil

Abstract

The pointed  venus, Anomalocardia brasiliana, has a great social and economic importance in the development  of small-scale fisheries off Pernambuco State, but uncontrolled exploitation of this resource in the region could mean stock  depletion in the median range. This study aimed to analyze the growth morphometric relationships of that clam collected  from at Mangue Seco beach, Igarassu county, northern Pernambuco. To check out the existence of shell morphometric  relationships, regression equations were fitted to non linear measurements length/width and t student test  (p<0.05).  As for the analysis between length classes along the year the ANOVA technique was made use of followed by Duncan’s  test (p<0.05), with the month July, 2009 showing the highest mean length value of 22.76 mm. The pointed venus boasts  a negative allometric growth between its shell’s morphometric measures, indicating that the species does not sustain a  constant relative development between length and width over time.