砗磲是软体动物门瓣鳃纲砗磲科生物的统称,广泛分布于热带珊瑚礁海域。20世纪八九十年代,澳大利亚、美国以及菲律宾等太平洋岛屿国家集中开展了砗磲增养殖及与之相关的生理、生态和经济学等基础研究。砗磲通过与其共生的虫黄藻获得营养,这一特性使得砗磲生长速度极快。砗磲的单位面积保有量可达400t·hm-2,使得它们在热带珊瑚礁海域中具有重要的生态学和养殖意义。不仅如此,砗磲在其生长过程中所体现出来的珊瑚礁修复价值以及碳汇渔业价值对于海洋开发和保护都有着极其重要的意义。同时,我国南海拥有环境优越的广阔热带海域,可开展砗磲养殖的面积达3000km2以上。结合以上认识,作者认为砗磲养殖具有形成热带海洋贝类养殖重大产业的潜力,可以为我国南海珊瑚礁保护和生态文明建设工程提供支撑。%Giant clams are of the family Tridacnidae with 10 living species in only two genera, Tridacna and Hippopus. In the 1980s and 1990s, the Pacific Rim countries, including Australia, the Philippines and the U.S., conducted a series of joint research on the cultivation of giant clams and the relevant physiological, ecological and economic factors. The unique feature of giant clams among bivalve molluscs is their symbiotic relationship with dinoflagellate algae, zooxanthellae (Symbiodinium. sp); this gives them a nutritional and growth advantage over normal bivalve molluscs. Since the stocking of giant clams can reach 400 tonnes per hectare, giant clams have great significance to both mariculture sector and tropical coral reef ecosystem. Moreover, due to benefits to coral reef restoration and carbon sink fisheries, the growth of giant clams also has a significance for marine development and protection. Meantime The South China Sea has 3000 km2 tropical reef water, which is suitable for developing mariculture. We suggest that giant clams cultivation have the potential to become a principle sector of tropical mariculture that could facilitates the protection of coral reefs as well as the recovery and conservation of the South China Sea ecosystem.
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