Description: | A 50-meter distance along the San Diego River was chosen to examine the demography of Ostrea lurida and Crassostrea gigas. During the first sampling season, October 2016, one tidal zones was examined, representing the mid inter-tidal (approximately 0.95 m NAVD88). During subsequent samplings, which occurred three months starting on October 19th, 2016, followed by samplings on January 9th, 2017, April 22nd, 2017, July 24th, 2017 and September 20th 2017. In January 2017 an additional zone in the low inter-tidal, at approximately 0.68 m NAVD88, was added due to the observations of large numbers of oysters.
At the 50-m long sampling site, the mid- and low tidal zones were divided into five 10-m long transects. In each of these 10-m transects, 0.5 X 0.5 m quadrats were randomly selected for oyster assessments. Each quadrat was randomly assigned a number, 0-4 which represented the time sampling would occur. At each sampling, all oysters in the designated quadrat were removed by hand or with use of a chisel and hammer. Oysters were placed in plastic bags, brought back to the University of San Diego, and frozen for at least 48-hrs at 80 degrees Celsius.
After 48 hours’ oysters were removed and placed in a refrigerator to allow easy shell access. Thawed oysters were then cleaned using a small scrub brush to remove any mud and organisms (other than oysters) growing on the shell. Total weight was measured to the nearest tenth of a gram. Length was measured from the hinge to the most distant point on the shell. After measurements, each individual oyster was opened, and the soft tissue was removed and placed into a glass beaker and wet weight of the soft tissue was taken. The soft tissue was then placed in an oven at 65 degrees Celsius for 48 hours to obtain dry tissue weights. Shel;l; weight was measured for each individual oyster after drying for 24 hours. |