OYSTEE INVESTIGATIONS IN GEORGIA 



69 



From a commercial point of view, reef oysters are of little value, 

 being small and generally ])oor, but a large accumulation of them 

 on the reef should be regarded as a valuable natural stock of spawn- 

 ers supplying great numbers of oyster larvae and spat for the whole 

 vicinity. 



The origin of the reef is probably similar to the origin of the oyster 

 beds on tidal flats. As soon as a few oysters have established them- 

 selves on some solid object on the bottom of tlie sound, they begin to 

 grow, and in a short time the shells of young oysters in turn begin 

 to offer places for the attachment of new generations. With the 

 growth of the reef the chance for the oyster larva) to find a place 



Figure 9. -Oyster reef in Altaniaha Sound, Ga. Low tide 



for setting becomes better, the reef acting as a huge spat collector. 

 It is interesting to note that there are no other beds in the imme- 

 diate vicinity of the reef in Altamaha Sound, the bottom of which 

 is formed by shifting sand. Undoubtedly the largest portion of the 

 oyster larvae setting on the reef comes from the reef itself, although 

 a certain number of them may be brought in by the ebb currents 

 from the beds located in the small creeks emptying into the sound. 



SALINITY, pH, AMOUNT OF SUSPENDED MATTER IN WATER, AND 

 CHARACTER OF THE BOTTOM 



For the successful cultivation of oysters a knowledge of the salin' 

 ity of water, of its hydrogen-ion concentration, of the amoimt of 

 suspended matter, mid of (he character of the bottom is of greni, 



