A dynamic energy budget model for abalone, Haliotis discus hannai Ino

Haliotis discus hannai Ino is one of the important mariculture species in China. Presently, H. discus hannai is extensively cultured in two coastal provinces in China, Shandong in the north and Fujian in the south, and is usually cultured in the "North-South Relay" mode. In order to simulate the growth of abalone in the north and south, an individual dynamic energy budget (DEB) model was constructed for abalone. Model simulation was done by STELLA software, using water temperature and food consumption as forcing functions, with 18 energy budget-related parameters. The DEB model was then validated by field data collected in a Relay-culture operation in 2017 to 2018. Model simulation revealed that, the simulated growth of abalone in non-relay culture scenarios was significantly lower than that in the Relay mode. In Sanggou Bay (in the north) and Xiuyu Sea (in the south), the shell length and dry flesh weight reached 6.3 cm and 10 g, or 5.29 cm and 4.6 g, respectively, as a result of simulated growth for 365 d of abalone seedlings at 2.8 cm and 0.3 g. While the abalone growth in Relayculture reached a shell length of 6.8 cm and dry flesh weight of 10.9 g. Growth simulations by the DEB model in both length and weight were within the range of observations for abalone. And several goodness-of-fit indices (Rsquare, modeling efficiency and Theil's inequality coefficient) showed that the DEB model of abalone was able to reproduce abalone growth with acceptable accuracy. By simulating the growth of abalone in aquaculture under different environmental scenarios, the rationale behind the Relay-culture mode was proved at the individual organism level.