RÉSUMÉ
We conducted a 5-month experiment at Turpialito in the Golfo de Cariaco, Venezuela, to examine whether the previously reported more rapid growth of scallop Euvola ziczac in bottom compared to suspended culture can be attributed to more abundant or higher quality food resources near the sediment/water interface. The various body components (shell, muscle, digestive gland, gonad and remaining tissues) increased in size at a much greater rate for scallops maintained on the bottom, in partly buried cages at 5 m in depth, than in cages suspended at the same depth in the water column. Furthermore, survival was greater on the bottom. Food abundance and quality were examined by analyzing the seston collected in sediment traps at the sediment/water interface in the vicinity of the bottom cages and next to the suspended cages. Phytoplankton abundance (chlorophyll a) and the proportion of various fatty acids in the lipid fraction of the seston were similar on the bottom and in suspension. However, sestonic protein, lipid and carbohydrate levels, and the estimated energetic content of the seston, were higher on the bottom than in suspension, and probably contributed to the greater growth on the bottom. As the increase in the energetic content of the seston on the bottom compared to in suspension was less than the increase in growth (biomass) on the bottom compared to in suspension, and the evidence showed in previous studies above the negative influence of fouling and wave action in suspended culture, we conclude that the more rapid growth of Euvola ziczac in bottom than suspended culture is principally due to stress relative to suspended culture system