Abstract: Mytilus coruscus is an economic mollusc and good object for artificial propagation and culture, but there are very few reports about its biological characteristics so far. Based on the data of tracking survey of one-year-old M. coruscus from April 2013 to February 2014 and of sampling survey of two-year-old M. coruscus during August to December 2013, Taylor formula, linear function and Von Bertalanffy growth equation were used to analyze their biological characteristics and growth patterns in the waters of Zhongjieshan Islands. The result showed that there were no obvious differences in shell length, shell height, shell width, body weight, shell weight and wet weight of soft tissues between male and female individuals. There were significant positive linear correlations between shell length and shell height and shell width. Moreover, there were significant power function relationships between shell length and body weight, shell weight, and wet weight of soft tissues. The growth equations of shell length and body weight were as follows: L_t=87.48(1-e^-0.348(t+0.913)) and W_t=79.51(1-e^-0.348(t+0.913)) 3-respectively. The period between August and October was considered to be the rapid growth season, and inflection point of sexual maturity of M. coruscus was in late August. It was proposed that midOctober was the best harvest season for spring seeding.

Key words: grazing disturbance, alpine meadow, diversity index