Molluscs and echinoderms aquaculture: biological aspects, current status, technical progress and future perspectives for the most promising species in Italy.

Shellfish aquaculture is a widespread activity
in the Italian peninsula. However, only two
bivalve species are mainly cultured along the
coastline of that country: the Mediterranean
mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis and the
Manila clam Venerupis philippinarum
(Ruditapes philippinarum). By contrast, just a
few other mollusc species of commercial interest
are scarcely reared at a small-scale level.
After analysing the current status of Italian
shellfish production, this paper reports and
discusses the potential for culturing several
different invertebrate species [i.e., the
European flat oyster Ostrea (O.) edulis, the
grooved carpet shell Venerupis (V.) decussata
(Ruditapes decussatus), the razor clams Ensis
(E.) minor and Solen (S.) marginatus, the
cephalopod Octopus (O.) vulgaris, and the purple
sea urchin Paracentrotus (P.) lividus] in
this country.
In addition, a detailed overview of the
progress made in aquacultural techniques for
these species in the Mediterranean basin is
presented, highlighting the most relevant bottlenecks
and the way forward to shift from the
experimental to the aquaculture phase. Finally,
an outlook of the main economic and environmental
benefits arising from these shellfish
culture practices is also given.