Movements and habitat use of the queen scallop, Equichlamys bifrons, in the D'Entrecasteaux channel and Huon River estuary, Tasmania

Movements and habitat use of the queen scallop, Equichlamys bifrons, were investigated in the D'Entrecasteaux Channel and Huon River estuary, Tasmania. Movements in E. bifrons were very local. In areas of strong current flow, movement occurred predominantly along the axis of the water current. There was evidence for an up-slope movement in areas of weak current flow. In sheltered bays, E. bifrons occurs more frequently in seagrass beds than on adjacent sand areas. Possible reasons for this distribution were investigated with both tethered and tagged scallops. Predation by the 11-armed spiny starfish, Coscinasterias muricata, and the octopus, Octopus maorum, on scallops was much higher on sand than in seagrass. Tagged scallops moved from sand areas to seagrass areas, but not from seagrass to sand.