TRANSFER OF Arca noae Linnaeus, 1758 FROM NATURAL TO DIFFERENT EXPERIMENTAL FARMING CONDITIONS

Sa？etak Noah’s ark shell Arca noae Linnaeus, 1758 is one of commercially important species in Croatia harvested from the wild. Its length/sex relationship, sex ratio and survival after transfer from natural habitat to different experimental farming conditions were examined. Statistically smaller lengths were detected for males (x=52.6±8.7 mm) than for females (x=60.2±9.5 mm). The overall sex ratio was 1.8 : 1.0 in favour of males. Survival after 17 months was only 20.5%. This study demonstrated that A. noae specimens can be transferred from the wild onto field experimental conditions, but high post transfer mortalities occurred. Gathered data about post transfer mortalities and relationship between the sexes and lengths could be useful when planning aquaculture/hatchery operations for this bivalve species. Furthermore, they will be of great help for the further development of farming technology of this species